Shin Megami Tensei: Personastuck
by Archangel Unionhack
Summary: Dave Strider and his sister Rose are moving to Seattle to attend a boarding school as an alternative to their financially failing High School in Texas. With their new school life, however, comes a mysterious power; Persona; born from a strange world inside their computers. With his friends, Dave must brave the world in the computer to learn the truth about his new friends. (AU)
1. Chapter 1 - Flight 14 to Seattle

"Flight 13 to Chicago, boarding."

Dave's head perked as he heard the airport announcement. "Hey." he said, turning his head to his sister Rose, who was fast asleep on the bench to the left of him. Without a second thought, he crumpled one of the brochures he had laid out nearby and tossed the ball at her, which bounced right off her head.

Slowly Rose awoke and sat up, rubbing her eyes groggily. "What?" she asked with a grumpy tone in her voice. She was having a pretty nice nap until the annoying thud of paper made contact with her cranium.

"Our flight's coming up. We're 14 to Seattle, right?" Dave asked, having not bothered to examine their tickets after getting them the first time. Dragging his index finger across the trackpad of his laptop, he closed out his blog and closed his computer, stuffing it into a bag and standing.

Rose nodded, standing up as well. "Yeah, that's us. Let's get going then." Both of them swung their backpacks over their shoulders and headed to the section where their plane was boarding. It was going to be a long, straight-shot to Seattle lasting about 8 hours, most of which Dave planned to spend sleeping. However, just in case he ended up being struck by a sudden wave of insomnia, he had made sure to pack two fully charged media players. There was absolutely no way he was going to just sit there and watch a crappy in-flight Nicholas Cage movie or another episode of The Office.

The ticket receptionist examined the two of them closely, but Dave assured her that they were both 16 years old and not runaways. Soon enough they were able to board, and within the hour, they were in the air.

Dave was admittedly looking forward to living in Seattle. After all, it was where John and Jade lived, his two closest friends that he had never met in real life. Though he would never admit it, Dave felt rather lonely at home. In the small rural town that he and Rose lived in before, their High School was attended by no more than 300 students at most, and frankly, most of them were idiots. Going to a boarding school in one of the largest cities in the nation would be a definite improvement.

He glanced again at the other brochure he had in his possession, the one that he didn't crumble earlier. On the front, in bolded old-English style letters, was the name 'Sassacre Academy'. Co-ed, four-room apartment style dormitories, a good sized campus; it was basically like attending College, except with a dress code. Dave wasn't too worried with that detail though; the uniform didn't look that bad, and they had some freedom in how they wore it. Combine that with nice on-campus facilities and a great surrounding area, and it almost seemed too good to be true. Still, Dave didn't want to look a gift horse in the mouth. Silently, as to not wake up a once-again sleeping Rose, Dave opened up his laptop after they got the clear to use electronic devices.

With no internet 30,000 feet in the air (which Dave saw as a travesty), Dave could only type up drafts for blog posts. He had a pretty large following for his webcomics of the ironic persuasion, and he figured that said following wouldn't mind if he posted something concerning his life. Maybe someone following him went to Sassacre as well.

Dave checked the clock on his laptop. 11:34 PM. Still about 7 hours to go. Dave flexed his fingers and began typing out his blog post draft.

turntechgodhead log number 1

en route to seattle

not even an hour in and the sis is already asleep

apparently sassacre academy place kicks some serious ass

and if theyve got vending machines with aj i will be in my own 100% natural paradise

flight is gonna suck though

no internet

only tunes

times like these when a mans will is tested in the face of unyielding boredom

only the strider can prev

Before he could finish that line, he felt a hand tap his shoulder. Resisting the urge to groan out of annoyance, Dave turned to whoever it was that tapped him from behind.

Sitting there was a boy that looked of similar age to Dave, who looked like he had just woken up. His pitch black hair seemed to be in a perpetual state of bedhead, and his bloodshot eyes had deep bags under them. He wore a black shirt with some odd purple symbol on it that Dave didn't recognize, and black pants with faint polka dots scattered on them. He sat alone in his two-seat row, with his various overstuffed bags taking up the seat next to him.

"Hey, bro." was the first thing the boy said, looking at Dave's laptop rather than Dave himself. "Nice rig ya got there."

Dave shrugged. "It's not terrible. Gets the job done." he replied, a little confused as to why the boy would just compliment his computer out of the blue. Maybe he was a computer enthusiast. Who would know?

"Tell ya what could make it a whole motherfuckin' load better though. You ever heard of the 'Gateway Code'?" asked the strange boy. Dave shook his head, so the boy continued; "It's a trick they use when they're building computers. Makes it real simple to get complete control over your system. They don't usually let people outside of manufacturing know, because people could violate their fuckin' warranty and shit. You should give it a shot, brother."

Dave lifted an eyebrow. "What, is it like a line of code or something?"

"Nah." replied the strange boy. "Just a few key presses, like control-alt-delete. It's a sequence, and you gotta do it real motherfuckin' fast or else it ain't gonna work. Like this; press 'home' to start it, type the word 'gateway', hold alt and press 'end'. Simple, right?"

Doubting the truth of what the boy said, Dave still had no reason to not try the silly trick. Besides, if he refused to, the boy probably wouldn't leave him alone about it. "Alright, 'home'..." Dave said, his fingers moving across the keyboard at a brisk pace as he followed the instructions and typed out the word 'gateway'.

A simple strike of the 'end' key with the alt key held down, and nothing happened. Just as Dave expected. Turning back to the seats behind him, Dave smugly announced that his guess was right. "See? Nothing happ-"

Dave's words fell on ears that weren't there. Where the boy had been sitting before with a mountain of bags, there were only empty seats. Dave turned back to his laptop, confused and rather weirded out.

"I must have not gotten enough sleep. Jeez." Dave said as he looked back to his screen. To his surprise, the screen had gone black. "Shit, don't tell me you died on me." he protested quietly, knowing that he had charged it at the airport while they were waiting. Frustrated and annoyed, he closed his laptop.

Click. The sound of his laptop closing shut was the last thing Dave heard before his vision went black and his head began pounding. He could no longer hear the plane engines, or the sound of Rose's deep breaths in her sleep. He had absolutely no sense of up and down or left and right, and he couldn't tell if he was floating or falling. "What the hell is this?" Dave called out to the surrounding darkness. To his surprise, a voice called back to him.

"I am thou." came a booming voice that seemed to be coming from everywhere at once. Dave looked around, but could see nothing but blackness.

"Thou art I." said the voice once more. Dave's vision was suddenly blidnded by a white flash, and when he was able to see again, a shining card floated downards and stopped in front of Dave's face. The card was incredibly detailed, and featured what appeared to be a sword in front of a clock with no numbers. The card was labeled with the letter 'X'; or was it the roman numeral for 10? Dave didn't have the ability to make the distinction at this point, as he was completely and utterly confounded. With nothing else to do, he reached out and took hold of the card.

The card immediately dissipated into a soft blue light, and Dave felt a warmth inside his body. Before he could think about what just happened, his vision suddenly faded to white.

When he came to, Dave's face was laid on the keyboard of his laptop, as if he had fallen asleep there. Sitting back up, he noticed that his computer was on once again, with his blog draft still open. Dave turned back and found no traces of the boy that was there earlier; perhaps he had imagined it all. That certainly made more sense than what he had just experienced. It had to have been a vivid dream. He hadn't been able to sleep for the entire wait at the airport, after all.

Dave's laptop clock read 12:34. Just a litle over 30 minutes after midnight. It was as he thought; he had simply fallen asleep. Taking the odd dream as a definite sign that sleep was needed, Dave saved his computer up into his bag and closed his eyes, slowly drifiting to sleep once again.

The voice of the pilot awoke him much later, informing the passengers that they would be landing shortly. Dave stretched and turned to Rose, who had recently awakened as well. "Mornin'." Dave said, stretching his arms.

"Morning." Rose replied, looking out of her window down at the large city below. "You think this will be better than living back at home?"

"Man, you kidding? It's gonna kick Texas' ass." Dave replied. "Just trust me. The year's gonna turn out great and we'll never want to go back."


	2. Chapter 2 - Rising Sun

Dave felt himself being shaked. Did he phase out for a moment there with his headphones on?

Turning to his left and removing his headphones, he saw Rose with a look on her face that screamed 'seriously?'. Dave rolled his eyes. "What?"

Rose pointed out of the window on the bus that they were riding in. "We're here." she said. Indeed, their dormitory had come into view, and it looked even better than Dave had anticipated.

The building was made of brick and resembled an apartment building, at least 3 stories tall. It was identified by a label on the outside that read 4-B". It was in fantastic condition with well-kept plants and clean windows, as well as a vending machine right outside. To Dave's great joy, it did in fact contain bottled Apple Juice.

"4-B? A senior dorm? Shouldn't we be in a 3 dorm, Rose?" Dave asked.

"The junior class is large this year and we're late additions, so all of the junior dorms have no room. We've been bumped up to a senior dorm and we'll be able to stay in the same rooms next year as well." Rose replied, standing with her various bags in tow. Dave followed suit and exited the bus,

Rose pushed open the door and entered the lobby of the dorm. Dave was expecting something along the line of a hotel, but was pleasantly surprised by what was more like a conjoined living room, kitchen and dining room. A coffee table was placed across a fireplace in the 'living room', surrounded by a couch and two loveseats. A television was set up on the wall above the fireplace, with the wires hidden. The kitchen and dining table were highly furnished as well; the entire dorm looked like something out of a high-standards living magazine.

"Holy shit." Dave muttered, checking around. He was also able to see a few desks and a wifi router tucked away next to a telephone. "We should have came here years ago."

Before Rose could reply, a girl's voice rang from above; "John!" called the voice excitedly, and soon the sounds of feet rapidly descending the stairway were heard. Soon enough, two black haired teenagers that Dave had only seen pictures of online stood in the living room a few feet from himself and Rose.

"John? Jade?" Dave asked, still a little stunned.

"Dave! Rose!" shouted Jade as she ran forward and hugged Dave tightly. "Holy crap, I never thought I'd see you in real life! I'm so used to only knowing you over the internet. It's kinda weird."

Dave smirked, hugging Jade back. "Back at you. Been keepin' up with the blog?"

Jade pulled away, and both she and John nodded. "Of course! The comics look great!" she replied with a twinkle in her eye.

"Hello, John and Jade." Rose said with a grin on her face. She could hardly believe it either. After being friends with both of them over the internet for over 5 years, it seemed almost like a dream to finally see them in real life. She could hardly wait to spend time with them on and off campus. "What are you two doing here?"

"Well, we did have a set-up in a year 3 dorm, but we ended up volunteering to vacate for other juniors who would have been coming here. We knew you two would be coming to a senior dorm anyway. We've only just finished unpacking." John replied. "Want me to show you to your rooms?"

Dave and Rose nodded in reply, and John and Jade showed them the next floor.

"Girls stay on the second floor. Boys stay on the third." Jade said, taking Rose down the hall to one of the six doors; three on each side of the hall.

"Are there any others living here?" Rose asked. "I can't imagine we'd have an entire dorm to ourselves."

"There are four others." John replied. "They've already moved in before we got here. They're all out on vacation though. They'll be back in a few weeks; they start school after we do. Their names are Jane, Jake, Dirk, and Roxy. We have't met them yet either."

Rose nodded. "Which of these rooms is mine?" she asked Jade.

Jade pointed at the names printed on plates for each room, and then pointed to the vacant one next to her own room. "You can choose any of the empty ones, really, but this one's next to mine. We could be neighbors!" she said with a smile. Rose smiled as well and pushed open the doors, bringing her bags in.

John turned to Dave. "Well, I guess that's our queue. C'mon." he said, leading Dave up the stairs to the third floor. He pointed out the vacant room next to his own. "There ya go." he said, pushing open the door.

Stepping into the room, Dave was once again impressed. A television sitting across the bed, a nice window view of the rest of the campus, a personal mini-fridge, a work desk, and a closet. A closet! Dave had to make do with a goddamned dresser at home!

"Dude, this kicks ass." Dave said as he placed his things aside and began unpacking. He placed his laptop on the desk and set his portable turntable on his bed. All the essentials were done and out; he would have time to slap his SBAHJ posters on the walls later. "Hey, so what are we doing later?"

John lifted an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

"This is a monumental occasion, Eg-man. The first time us four have ever been together outside of some lame online chatroom. We need to hit the town or something." Dave replied, placing a few sheated records next to his turntable.

"Oh! Well, there are a few places to eat on and just outside of campus. We're not allowed off campus after 10 PM, and you're expected to be indoors by midnight. It's only 6 right now, so we could go somewhere." John replied, smiling. Dave did have a point, and he looked forward to finally being able to hang out with his best friend.

"They got any sushi joints, maybe?" Dave asked, flipping his phone open and checking the battery. There were no sushi bars where he lived, and it was only once in a blue moon that he got to eat at one in the big city.

"Yeah, there's 'Rising Sun' not far from here." John replied.

"Our destination has been decided." Dave said, smirking. "Inform the ladies. Tonight, we feast."

As the four walked towards the Rising Sun restaurant, Dave still couldn't shake the feeling of surrealism he was getting from finally seeing his two friends. It was like a dream come true; of course, he'd never say so out loud. It was paramount that he keep up his 'total cool badass' image. Still, it was weird. For so long, he had known these two as static images on social networking sites, and as plain text in countless chat sessions. These were the only people he had even remotely opened up to other than Rose. To finally have them there with him physically was nothing short of a gift. Dave fully intended to make the best of the next two years.

The group entered the sushi bar and took their seats. Dave immediately began asking questions since he had paid little attention to any information about the school that had been given to him earlier. "So what kind of clubs do they have around here?" he asked both John and Jade, since they had been attending the place since they were sophomores.

Jade put a hand to her chin. "Well, let's see. There's some sports out there, like basketball, soccer, swimming and boxing. There used to be an archery club but it disbanded after an equipment shortage."

"There's also more artistic clubs." John replied. "A/V club, a few symphonic ensembles, photography, creative writing, web design, yearbook, that sort of stuff."

"What are you two in?" Rose inquired.

"Gardening!" Jade replied. "We take care of the plants around campus. I did try the band at one point... but that didn't work out well."

"A/V for me." John replied. "We actually did a few movie scene re-enactments last year."

Dave snickered. He could only imagine John hugging a young girl while 'How Can I Live Without You' played in the background. John responded with punch to the shoulder.

Rose ate contently. "We start classes next week, yes?" she asked in between bits of salmon.

"That's right." Jade replied. "Hopefully us four will share some classes. It'd make study groups in the dorm easier."

"Hopefully use four will share some classes." Dave mimicked. "It'd make copying Rose's notes a lot easier." His comment was met with another punch to the shoulder, this time from his 'loving sibling'.

Jade looked up from her food. "Oh! I forgot to ask! How was your trip? It's only polite to ask."

Rose shrugged. "I slept for most of it, honestly."

Dave nodded. "I wish I could have been out that much. I hadn't slept until we boarded the plane. I could've sworn I was seeing things, I was so tired."

"Seeing things?" Jade asked.

"Yeah, it was really trippy. I think most of it was either a dream or just a result of lack of sleep. Like how there was this weird kid sitting behind us on the plane who was trying to tell me secret computer codes and other shit." Dave said. "I couldn't get to sleep fast enough."

The others shrugged. Dave couldn't have made that up if he tried. "Well, you two better get to sleep early for tonight. You've probably both got jet lag." John said, "We don't want Dave seeing more mysterious kids, now do we?" he added with a laugh. Dave responded with a punch to John's shoulder; sweet, sweet revenge.

Rose nodded and yawned. "He's got a point." she said. "We should rest up so we can have more energy to slack off for the rest of the week. I look forward to more sushi."

"Hear, hear." Dave said, standing up from his seat. He checked his phone's clock; 8 PM. "I guess we have been here for a while. Let's head back."

The time on his clock read 11:30 and still Dave couldn't sleep. They weren't lying about the jet lag. He sat up in bed and looked out of his window. Quiet, empty streets. That's right, John did say that curfew was at midnight. People would have went back inside by now.

Dave quietly creeped out of bed and grabbed his laptop, descending to the first floor for a midnight snack and some blogging time. After a moment in the kitchen, he had a fully prepped ham sandwich, and was about to eat it when a voice startled him.

"Dave?" called Jade from the loveseat by the coffee table, her laptop fittingly sitting on the top of her lap.

"Shit, Harley!" Dave said, dropping his sandwich. "Can't sleep either?" he asked once he had regained his composure and his grip on the sandwich.

Jade shook her head. "Nah. I stayed up late a lot during vacation and never bothered to fix my schedule."

Dave brought his sandwich and laptop to the coffee table and sat on the sofa. "Congratulations, you've got a rare front-seat to witness live Stider blogging. Not many attain such an honor."

Jade giggled. "I'm honored, then!"

"As you should be." Dave said, taking a bite of his sandwich before beginning a typing spree to finish his draft from the flight.

"Dave?" Jade asked after a short bit of silence.

"Yeah?"

"What kind of special codes did this dream-kid tell you about?"

"Oh, shut up." Dave said, a little averse to being mocked.

"No, I'm just curious." she said, looking down at her laptop. "Maybe you've stumbled on something via your subconsciousness or something."

"I doubt it. It was something really stupid." Dave said, recalling the instructions that the boy on the plane gave to him. "It went like this..." he said, relaying the sequence of keys to initiate the 'Gateway Code'.

Jade smirked. " 'Gateway', huh? Alright. That mind of yours, Mr. Strider. You should write a book." she said as she input the keys. Of course, as Dave predicted, nothing happened.

"Don't tempt me." Dave replied as he looked away from her and to his sandwich. He took a bite and closed his eyes for a yawn, then heard a slight thud. His eyes opened and he saw Jade's head resting on her laptop's keyboard, as if she had passed out.

"Har? Hey, you alright?" he called to her. "Oh wait, that's right. John said she's a narcoleptic." Dave reminded himself. He placed his napkin and laptop aside, having finished his sandwich, and went over to Jade. Gently he turned her over and laid her out on the loveseat, placing her laptop at her feet, then throwing a blanket over her. With her taken care of and his blog successfully updated, Dave quietly returned to his room.

Sitting on his bed, he wondered why Jade was curious about the code that he had learned of in his dream. Maybe his story was just that ridiculous and she was just trying to get a few laughs out of it, but didn't quite get to the laughing before falling asleep. Whatever her reason, Dave was too sleepy to ponder it.

He took one last look at his clock before closing his eyes. 11:41 PM. Sleeping in the next was a definite at this point.


	3. Chapter 3 - Getting Acclimated

Dave's alarm clock blared loudly. He could hardly believe it. August 19th already? It seemed like only yesterday that he and Rose had arrived at the dorm. He was looking forward to experiencing a new school, but no student looks forward waking up at 7 in the morning. He groaned and slammed his fist onto his clock to shut it up and groggily made his way out of bed, slipping in to his new Sassacre Academy uniform.

The uniform consisted of a black jacket over a white button-down shirt, and comfortable black slacks. Overall, not bad-looking. Dave hadn't seen anything about tucking in the shirt or zipping the jacket, so he did neither and figured he could use the 'new kid' excuse should he get pestered about it.

As he descended the stairs to the first floor, he swore that he could smell the faint scent of batter and syrup. Pancakes.

Jade was indeed handing out pancakes to John and Rose. It seemed that he was the last one to wake up. "You're up early." he said to no one in particular.

John turned around with a tired smile. "This is normal for Jade. She's a notoriously early riser."

Jade smiled and placed another plate of pancakes on the counter, intended for Dave. "He's right! I got up at, like, 5 AM and made all of these pancakes."

Accepting the plate, Dave sat to chow down. "No complaints here. So what's the agenda for today? They didn't give us schedules or anything."

"Today's more of an orientation day." Rose replied. "According to John, they're going to hold an assembly, hand out our schedules, and register us and the like. The real thing starts tomorrow."

John nodded in affirmation to what Rose had said. "So don't sweat it with packing binders or anything. Just take your backpack empty and be ready to fill it with pamphlets and textbooks."

Dave nodded in turn and dumped the contents of his bag onto the counter. "We gonna head out now, then?"

"If you want." Jade replied. "It's not a long walk. We've got time."

"Time that we could spend showing them around." John suggested. "Or at least pointing out landmarks."

Jade nodded. "Good point. Let's go, then." she said, placing all of the plates in the dishwasher and grabbing her backpack.

Together, the four of them ventured out onto the campus. Jade, with a giggle, took on the role of a generic, exhuberant tour guide.

"If you look to your left, you'll see the art hall, where our art clubs make their home. And just on the side of it is the science building and greenhouse, where you can find your friendly neighborhood Jade should you ever find yourself lost!" she annouced, holding an imaginary microphone. "To the right we have the English building, where all of our literature and history classes take place. And just to the side is the Math building, where all hope of a perfect GPA is lost! Finally, as you can see in front of us, the faculty hall is at the head of the courtyard, where all our faculty gathers to discuss how to further the strain on our poor teenage brains!"

John nodded to each of her statements. "There are a few other buildings on the other part of campus, but this is where we'll spend most of our time."

Rose looked to the faculty hall. "And the assembly will be there?" she asked, pointing.

Jade gave a thumbs up. "That's right! The auditorium's in there. And that's where we're going. Prep your ears to be talked off. The Principal's pretty long-winded."

Dave held up a smartphone and his set of over-ear headphones. "Way ahead of you."

"And with these words, I hope that you all make the most of this school year. Remember, the effort you put forth will be the reward you receive."

After an agonizing ten minutes, the principal had, at last, finished speaking. After a few more announcements concering imporant dates, the students were given leave to head to some of the other buildings to receive their schedules; freshmen to the art building, sophomores to the science building, juniors to the math building, and seniors to a different part of the faculty hall.

Dave removed his headphones from his ears and turned to his friends, and was met with rolling eyes from Rose. "What did I miss?"

"Nothing we can't fill you in on later." John responded, standing. "Let's head to the math hall."

"Right behind you." Dave replied, looking to the door. Something caught his eye near the back of the auditorium, so he looked closer.

Holy shit.

There he was, clear as day, the mysterious kid from the plane. He was a little difficult to identify without his odd clothing, but it was definitely him. He was standing with and talking to another black-haired male student, whose hair was still rather unkempt but nowhere near the level of messy that the plane-kid's hair had attained.

Jade patted Dave on the shoulder. "Hey, you okay?" she asked. He must have seemed out of it for her to notice.

Dave blinked and rubbed his temples. "Yeah, I'm fine. Just tired."

"If you're sure." Jade replied, tugging at his jacket to get him to follow. "Come on, we're blocking people from getting out."

Nodding, Dave heading out with the others. He scanned the crowd again for the guy from the plane, but found nothing. It wouldn't be hard to spot such a bird's nest of a hairstyle. He must have already left. With literally no information on who this guy was other than that he apparently attended Sassacre, Dave couldn't be sure if he would run into him at the math building. It was worth hoping though. It would possibly result in him looking like an idiot, asking some random person if he remembered telling Dave a secret computer code, but Dave could not be convinced that it was a coincidence. He was simply too curious. He had to know.

"Wow, I'm starting to sound like Egbert." Dave muttered, following the others to the building. It was already crowded; as John and Jade had mentioned, the Junior class was indeed the largest of the four. With a heavy sigh, Dave took his place with the others in the long line that started outside of the hall.

"How long did it take last year?" Rose inquired, standing on her tip-toes to scan the crowd out of curiousity.

"About an hour." John replied. "It's not a big deal, really. It passes more quickly than you'd think."

As his friends kept making small talk, Dave was still scoping out the gathering for who he had now dubbed 'plane kid'. He had been one of the first to leave the auditorium, so he was probably already inside the building, speaking with advisors and getting his classes scheduled. After that was done, the day was effectively over and the students were entitled to free time for the rest of the day. Lucky bastards. Dave regretted letting Rose pick a row near the front of the auditorium.

He couldn't help but check his phone clock every so minutes to see how long they had been waiting. Ten minutes, twenty minutes, thirty minutes passed and they had barely made it into the building. Dave had all but given up on finding plane kid, and was more concerned with trying to not fall asleep on his feet. He wondered if the dorm had a coffee machine; at this rate, he would need one for the mornings to come.

"Well, as fun as all this standing around is, I think I'm gonna lay back." Dave finally annouced as he sat up against a wall.

"Ditto." John said as he slumped against the wall. The waiting was indeed hell on the feet. Soon enough, dozens of surrounding students had followed suit and sat down.

"So Dave. Have you decided if you're going to join a club?" Jade asked after a few minutes of sitting, looking over to Dave. Her question had fallen on deaf ears, however; Dave was fast asleep. It must have been rough for him to get up so early after entering a new time zone.

Dave heard the sound of a piano, which seemed odd; he didn't have any classical music on his phone, or any music involving pianos for that matter. He opened his eyes to have his sight flooded with the soothing sight of a deep, blue velvet color. Another dream? He was beginning to wonder about the dreams he had been having lately. They were more vivid than any dreams he had ever had. Was it a result of the time change? Who knows.

Standing, Dave examined his surroundings. He was in a luxurious room that resembled a private booth in a club, but in the absence of repetitive electronic music in the background, there was a haunting piano and the voice of a female opera singer. Nearly everything in the room was a solid, deep blue color. It had a mystifying feeling to it; Dave could tell that he was in no normal club room. Suddenly a voice startled him, and he turned to face it. To his surprise, two people were in front of him that weren't there before; a blonde woman clothed in a blue matching the room's color, and a man dressed in a suit with a freakishly large nose.

"Welcome..." said the man with the long nose, as he looked upwards with bulging, bloodshot eyes. "...to the Velvet Room."


	4. Chapter 4 - Awakening

"This place exists between dream and reality, mind and matter." continued the long-nosed man. "You are here because you signed a contract of sorts; after all, only those who have signed a contract may enter here."

Dave sat in the seat across from the man's table, lifting an eyebrow. "Alright, this is about the freakiest dream I've ever had."

The odd man shook his head. "This is no dream. Whether or not you believe that now, you will come to believe it soon."

He extended his hand. "I am Igor, propreitor of the Velvet Room. And this is my assistant, Margaret."

Margaret bowed her head. "A pleasure."

Dave shook, but still kept his expression of disbelief. "You're saying I'm not dreaming? This sure as hell looks like a dream."

Igor shook his head. "You have had several experiences recently of which you can say the same, yes? Can you call them dreams when evidence to suggest otherwise exists in plain sight?"

"You're saying all that shit on the plane. That really happened?" Dave said. At this point he was beginning to believe it. This all seemed too real to be a dream, but it sure didn't feel like the waking world either.

"That is for you to discover. But I believe you already know the answer." Igor replied, spreading a few cards out. They looked familiar to Dave. Igor brought one of his hands up and the cards began to glow with an all-too familiar blue glow. Dave could only think of two possibilities; he was having some wicked hallucinations brought on by some factor he was unaware of, or that this was real. The latter was admittedly more believable at this point.

Igor flipped one of the cards over with a wave of his hand. Dave could see the same card that he had grabbed in his dream on the plane.

"My, this is most intriguing indeed." Igor said. "The upright Wheel of Fortune. It represents a positive change in circumstances. Indeed Lady Luck appears to shine on you. Often what appears to be either good or bad luck turns out to be just the opposite, or a catalyst to the other."

Margaret looked over at Dave. "It has been some time since one of our guests has been represented by a card other than the Fool."

Igor nodded. "Some time indeed. I find myself wondering how this will affect your journey."

Dave sat there with a blank expression. "Look, I have absolutely no clue what's going on here. Some straight answers would be pretty awesome right about now. I'm really not going to be able follow anything you say until I get some answers."

Igor flipped the Fortune card back over and waved the cards away, leaning forward and placing his elbows on the table and his chin on his hands. "The answers will come in due time. Do not rush towards the destination, for the journey is something to be enjoyed as well. Such is life."

Dave shook his head. "Alright, fine. I have no clue what I'm going to do about all of this, but fine."

"Not to worry." Igor responded. "You will be summoned here once more in due time. Until then, return to your life. Enjoy your journey. For the face of fortune that lies at your destination may not be what you desire. You must be prepared for such, and you must remember that the Wheel of Fortune is just that; A Wheel. A cycle Take these words to heart."

Sitting back in his chair, Dave tried his hardest to ponder the words spoken by Igor, but it all seemed so out of context. Assuming that this wasn't a dream, he would be summoned here again at some point. Perhaps he would be more informed then.

Dave felt his vision blurring and fogging up, and soon it all faded to black. The last thing he heard was Igor's voice; "Look to the Sun, and you shall find your answer."

_

"Dave, did you hear? Are you asleep?" called Jade's voice.

Dave blinked and removed his sunglasses, blinking, "Mmm? What? Sorry, I passed out for a sec... what did you say earlier?"

"I asked if you had decided on a club." Jade said, with a forced smile. She looked worried, no matter how happy she tried to make herself seem.

"I... I guess A/V with John, if it means I could work a turntable or DJ for some events." he responded sincerely. "Dances and stuff."

John nodded. "Yeah, we do a bit of that. Really, they don't care what you work on as long as you're learning and applying your knowledge. I think you'd do well with it."

Jade nodded with a smile. "Makes sense. What about you, Rose?"

Rose looked up from her book. "Me? I suppose Creative Writing would suit me well."

John smiled with a nod. "Yeah, Dave said you write."

"Just a bit. I usually don't show anything I write to anyone." Rose said simply.

"Well, joining the club might help you get better at showing off your work. Then you can get to work on your Pulitzer Prize winning novel!" Jade said cheerfully. Her peppiness was a little contagious. Dave felt much less drowsy and his eyelids stopped weighing down as much.

The next thirty minutes passed a little quicker now that everyone was fully awake. Dave made no mention of the Velvet Room or Igor, but he strongly considered talking to the others about it.

Who to ask, though? John was into Supernatural things, so he might have some knowledge on it. Then there was Rose; this seemed like it was right up her alley. Jade might not know much on the subject, but if she believed him about the Gateway Code, then maybe she would believe him about this too. He decided to leave it up to who he could find alone when they got to the dorm. He didn't want to talk about it with everyone at once.

Eventually they reached the end of the line. John and Jade devised a plan for themselves as well as Dave and Rose to answer the questions of the advisor similarly so that the four of them would get similar class assignments.

Dave was the last of the group to exit the advisory rooms with his completed schedule. "So? How do we match up?"

John took the four schedules and laid them in a row to compare. "For the first four hours of the day we're all together. English, Math, History, then Science, all the same teachers. Then lunch, then fifth and sixth are all different. Dave and I have PE 5th while you two have Computer Applications. Then it's vice-versa for 6th. Then we go to any clubs, then we head home! Overall, pretty good."

"Damn good!" Dave affirmed, taking his schedule from the row. "Now I don't need to sweat over not having notes."

"It'll make studying a lot easier." Jade added. "Homework too."

"Looks like Lady Luck decided to smile on us today." mused a smiling Rose. It was clear that she was having fun.

Lady Luck. Dave once again recalled the words of Igor concerning the Wheel of Fortune, and how one sort of luck might simply be an invitation for the other sort to occur. The thought put him on edge. Was something bad going to happen to them? Was that what Igor was hinting at?

He really needed someone to talk to.

_

After arriving at the dorm (and grabbing an apple juice from the vending machine), Dave laid himself on the loveseat and kicked back, crossing his arms behind his head. The Velvet Room and its' mysterious inhabitants continued to eat away at his thoughts. The card that he had grabbed in his dream, the words that had been spoken; "I am thou. Thou art I." What did it all mean? Was it all truly reality?

No, it wasn't, but it wasn't a dream either. As Igor said, it was "between dream and reality". This was something different entirely.

Jade took a seat on the sofa. She looked like she was pondering something. Dave knew that if he was going to talk to someone about anything, now would be the time. Rose had gone to her room to write a bit, having been hit with a bit of inspiration, and one of John's movies was on, so he decided to watch it in his own room. Dave and Jade were alone.

Dave was about to open his mouth to speak, but Jade beat him to it. It looked like she had sought to talk to Dave alone as well. "Dave? You said you had a dream on the plane, right? What happened exactly?"

"Well..." Dave responded, a litle surprised by the question. "The kid told me the code, I tried it, and then everything went black for a while. I felt like I was floating, and then some weird card appeared. I grabbed it and it disappeared, then I woke up."

Jade seemed like she was staring into space, deep in thought. "What did the card look like?" Jade asked. It seemed like an oddly specific question. "Did it have a Sun on it, with the Roman numeral for 19?"

Dave's eyes widened, though they couldn't be seen behind his shades. This was way too much to be a coincidence. Did she have the same dream? "No... it had a clock with a sword for a hand, and it had the number 10."

She looked at her computer on the coffee table. "I think I had the same dream. The falling-into-darkness-and-finding-a-card part, anyway. But... it seemed like more than a dream. I've had a lot of dreams, Dave. Never anything like that."

"Did you have any dream about this dude with a huge nose in a blue room?" Dave asked. Igor did say they had other guests at other points in time.

"No?" Jade said, suddenly giggling. "All this card stuff is weird in itself, but... I would be laughing at that if I wasn't already convinced that the card dream was more than just a dream. You'll have to tell me more about long-nose-in-a-blue-room guy later."

"So you think it was more than just a dream too, right?" Dave asked. "Then, if the card part wasn't a dream, then everything else..."

"The Gateway Code has to have something to do with it." Jade said. "This might sound weird, but at this point, I'd be willing to believe anything; what if the Gateway Code is what causes these weird dreams? What if it's... like a gateway to some part of ourselves or something?"

Dave hadn't thought of it like that. There was something weird about the random code that plane kid had told him, but he hadn't considered that it was the cause of all of it. "Then... maybe we should try it again."

"I was thinking the same thing." Jade said. "There might be something massive if we can find out what this really does. I'd hate to just leave this alone and never find out what it means. It'd bug me for the rest of my life!"

"You're right." Dave admitted. It would bug the hell out of him too. Hell, it was already bugging the hell out of him. "I'll go grab my laptop then."

Dave returned shortly with laptop in hand. "Alright." he said, sitting down with it on the coffee table. "Ready?"

"Yeah." Jade replied, sitting next to him on the sofa.

Dave counted down from three, and they both typed in the sequence. Upon stroking the 'end' key, they both felt a strange sensation. It was hard to describe, but it felt similar to a body part being asleep, except spread across the entire body. After a few moments, they both blacked out as expected.

The first thing Dave noticed is that he was laying on something solid. He was definitely not falling like last time. The ground felt dirty, as if he were outside.

He opened his eyes and found himself in a foggy, forest-like area, surrounded by trees as far as he could see. He slowly brought himself to his feet. Something was missing.

"Jade?" he called, looking around frantically. "Jade, you here?"

There was nothing. Trees, trees, and more trees. Looking down, Dave could identify a beaten path through the forest. It was his only choice at this point. He took the path through the forest, starting at a fast walk and changing to a jog after a few moments.

Something caught his ear; he couldn't tell what it was, but it sounded certainly unnatural. He felt like he was being watched. He continued on until her heard the sound again, this time louder. He swung around, closed his hand into a fist, and crouched slightly, as if ready to fight.

Dave felt a sudden sensation in his hand when he curled it into a fist, then saw a flash of bright light. When he could see again, he found a katana in his grip. It seemed to be in perfect condition, and well balanced for use in one hand. Things were making less sense by the minute, but Dave wasn't about to look a gift katana in the mouth. Or hilt or something.

His earlier assumption was correct. From the depths of the fog, something faded into view. It appeared to be a black puddle with an odd blue mask; how the mask was staying on top of the puddle was anyone's guess. The puddle seemed to sprout arms, and used them as a means of locomotion.

Dave readied his katana as the puddle approached. With a shout, he sliced with all of his might at the creepy puddle. To his great surprise, his slice did absolutely nothing.

"What the hell?" Dave shouted aloud. What kind of shitty supernatural world gives you a katana that doesn't cut anything?"

The puddle quickly retaliated and swung a hand at Dave, hitting him in the leg. He felt a sharp pain as his pants leg cuff ripped, and he fell backwards instinctively to avoid another hit.

"Dammit!" he shouted. There was no time to deal with this when Jade still had to be found. Despite the pain in his foreleg, Dave regained his balance and ran off along the path, away from the mysterious puddle. He could hear a scream in the distance, undoubtedly from Jade.

Dave increased the pace of his run, despite the pain, and came across a strange, blue glow that could be seen behind a bit of brush. It was unlike the gentle blue glow that surrounded the cards they had found in their strange dreams; it seemed malevolent in a sense, almost like a slowly burning fire. Dave chopped down the brush in his way and entered the grove, and was surprised to find not one, but two Jades facing each other.

"No, that's... not how I am..." said one of the Jades to the other. She appeared to have tears welling up in her eyes, while the other Jade stood menacingly with her arms crossed, the evil blue glow surrounding her.

"Jade!" Dave called to the crying Jade, whom he could tell was obviously the real one. Both turned towards him.

"Dave!" called out real Jade, her cheeks stained by tears. "Make her stop! Please!"

"Stop what?" repsonded other Jade in a distorted, demonic voice. "Stop speaking the truth? It's not my fault that you won't listen!" Dave was able to get a clear look at her; she looked exactly like Jade with one glaring exception; her eyes glowed a bright yellow, and she wore an evil grin.

"All your friends are in your life now." the other Jade continued. "It's soooooo much easier to act like a successful person behind a computer screen, Over the internet, it was easy to fit in a little lie every here and there. Dave and Rose would never notice! But now they're here. They see the real you, and you're already failing them."

"Stop!" Jade cried out, falling to her knees.

"You're trying so hard to impress them. But how can you? You're not a writer, or a disk jockey. You've got your plants, but which friends are you going to impress with silly weeds and flowers?" said the other Jade, apparently aiming to hurt real Jade. "And don't even get me started on the disaster that was the band class last year. Unteachable! The worst flute sound that they've ever heard! Of course you've got your bass, but where do you fit an electric bass into a symphonic arrangement, hm? Nowhere, that's where!"

Jade continued to sob, lowering herself further to the ground. Dave went over, placing a hand on her shoulder and kneeling. "Jade! Get a hold of yourself! Don't let her get to you!"

"You've always been enthusiastic about everything you do, but that never helps anything when you fall flat on your face, does it?" cackled other Jade. "Enthusiasm is worthless when you can't get the job done. All the hope in the world can't make up for a lack in ability. You just want to be free from having to work towards being great at something. You just want the magic ticket called talent! You just can't stand the same routine of practicing to fail. I should know... after all... I am you. And you're me."

Jade shook her head, trying not to sob uncontrollably. "No! You're wrong! That's not how I feel! You're not me!"

Dave felt a very bad feeling as soon as Jade muttered those words, though he couldn't tell why until he witnessed what was happening to the other Jade.

Other Jade began cackling maniacally as the blue glow around her turned blood red. She convulsed and began to grow as her form was hidden by the growing red glow. Dave backed up slowly, keeping Jade behind him at all times.

The glow dissipated and before them stood a gleaming figure. Before them was what appeared to be a warped, twisted version of Jade clad in spiked, shining armor and wielding a long spear. The figure towered over Dave and Jade, being at least four times their height.

"Shit!" Dave said, keeping his katana at the ready. What good was it going to do, though? It had failed him against the lowly puddle, What good was it going to serve him here?

"You're not going to live to see success!" shouted the armored figure, readying its' spear.

Dave was out of options and was about to suggest running when a familiar glint caught his eye. The card from his dream slowly descended and hovered in front of him.

"The Wheel of Fortune." he muttered, recalling Igor's words. "Well, here goes nothing."

Dave grabbed the card from the air, and it shattered.

It was at that moment that Dave's entire mind was wiped clean of all thought, save for a single word.

"Per... So... Na..."

_


	5. Chapter 5 - Call to Arms

Dave couldn't quite put words together to explain what he was experiencing, but at the same time, he knew what was going on. That card had some kind of power, but the card represented him. Or, at least his inner self. The power was coming from him.

Dave felt like he was caught in the middle of a windstorm. His jacket flapped violently in the wind, but he felt that his body wasn't being moved at all. He was surrounded by a torrent of swirling blue light, remniscient of the light that had enveloped his card.

Clenching his fist harder, Dave shouted as he tried to exert some control over the power. The light surrounding him seemed to intensify and solidify into a humanlike shape. Dave relaxed his fist and watched as the light surrounding the shape.

In the air there was indeed a humanlike figure. However, the figure seemed to be constructed entirely out of metal. Running gears could be spied on various parts of its body, and large mechanical wings extended from its back. The feature that stood out most was the staff that it held in its right hand, which reminded Dave of the symbol seen on Hospital logos; a staff with two snakes curling around it.

The figure spoke with a familiar booming voice.

"Thou art I... And I am thou... From the sea of thy soul I cometh... I am Hermes, emissary of the divine..."

Dave felt a connection to this 'Hermes'. As it had said; "From the sea of thy soul I cometh."

This thing came from him. Was this the personification of the power he gained from that card? Suddenly the word 'Persona' made a lot more sense.

Other Jade stepped back, her movement slowed by her massive armor. "What the...? It can't be!" It shouted, readying her weapon.

Dave readied himself, gripping his katana tightly. "Hermes!" he shouted, thrusting his hand forward. Once again, he couldn't quite explain the level of understanding he had with his 'Persona', but he felt that he had a level of control over it.

Indeed, Hermes responded and raised its free hand just as Dave had. In a flash, a burst of flame erupted from Hermes' hand and slammed into Other Jade, causing it to stagger back and fall over. It hit the ground with a massive thud, shaking the trees around them and throwing dust up into the air.

Dave took the opportunity. "Now!" he shouted, clenching his fist.

Hermes rose into the air as if he had leapt from mid-air, and then descended rapidly with his staff at the ready. His staff slammed into Other Jade's chest armor, creating a cracking sound.

Other Jade let out a shrill shriek, emenating a blast of cold. Dave was pushed back, as was Hermes. When he was able to look once more, he could see a frail, withered version of Jade floating in the air like a marionette. Other Jade had been protected by her massive armor this entire time, and without it, she would be extremely vulnerable.

"No!" she shrieked, raising her hands. From her came more blasts of ice, pushing Dave and Hermes back even farther. Dave tried to stand his ground, but the cold had numbed him and made it difficult to move effectively. As a last-ditch effort, he gripped his katana and trudged forward.

Hermes rose from the ground and approached once more. Dave lifted his katana to the air. "Now, Hermes!" he shouted.

Hermes rose his staff into the air as Dave had with his sword, and began glowing red. Despite Other Jade's continued blasts, Hermes stood still as he glowed like a hot iron. After a short while, Dave could feel the heat emanating from his Persona. With another characteristic flash, Hermes' staff caught aflame and burned intensely, melting away Other Jade's rapid blasts of ice before they even hit him.

Dave brought his sword down as a command to Hermes, and his Persona obliged, bringing his flaming staff down towards a screaming Other Jade. Dave heard the impact, and looked to see Other Jade dissipate into smoke.

His purpose fulfilled, Hermes faded into thin air. Dave felt an inner warmth; he knew he would be able to call Hermes back when he needed him.

Dave then heard more crying from Jade. He turned around and was surprised to see Other Jade once more; however, she was no longer in her armored or frail form; she once again looked identical to Jade, only with bright yellow eyes and a surrounding coat of bluish smoke. The real Jade staggered to her feet and looked her shadow in the eyes. "You're... not..."

"Jade, no!" Dave called, to Jade's surprise. "It freaked out the last time you denied it. It's alright; I won't tell anyone what it said. My lips are sealed. Don't sweat it."

Jade's mouth was open in disbelief, still not wishing to accept her negative side. She knew that what Other Jade was telling the truth, but she didn't want to admit. If what Dave had said was true, however, the thing wouldn't go away unless she accepted it. Maybe it was time to own up to her failures, to accept them as a part of who she was.

"Fine... you're right." Jade said, sighing. "You're absolutely right. I clad myself in a wall of enthusiasm because I always wanted to look past my failures. I wanted to pretend that they didn't exist, and that they wouldn't matter in the long run. But they do. I shouldn't run from my failures when I can learn from them. They're a part of who I am... And so are you. You are me, after all."

Other Jade smiled faintly before fading into the same blue light that Dave had become familiar with. Soon after, a figure of similar size to Hermes faded into view; a long haired man covered in drapes and adorned with poppy flowers. In his hand was a shining clock on a chain, being swung like a pendulum used in hypnosis therapy.

"Hypnos." Jade muttered, as if she heard its name in her mind. Perhaps she did. Hypnos faded from view and reverted into a card. Dave could see that the card had an artisitc depiction of the sun on it, as well as the Roman Numeral XIX. Jade rose her hand and and accepted the card, and was bathed in a blue glow before the card disappeared as well. "So... I get a 'Persona' too." She muttered before collapsing.

"Jade!" Dave shouted as he ran over. "Shit, shit, shit!"

He could feel himself flying off the handle as he gently took Jade into his arms, shaking her a bit. "No no no, don't do this to me. Don't you fucking dare."

Jade blinked slightly, much to Dave's relief, and coughed a bit. "I'm not dead, dummy. I'm just really tired..." she said, genuinely smiling.

"Oh." Dave said, flustered that he had such a show of emotion in front of someone. "Yeah, I knew that." he lied, pushing his sunglasses back up.

"How do we get out?" Jade asked. She was much too weak to stand, so Dave had to carry her. Should they encounter any more weird puddles, Hermes would be able to take care of them.

Dave looked around and saw a bright light not far in the distance. "Maybe that's our answer." he said, holding Jade as he approached the light.

Indeed, a door stood where Dave had originally entered the strange forest. It was open, but Dave could only see a bright light within. Whatever was inside, Dave figured it would be a better choice to go in than stay in the forest. "Ready?" he asked as he approached. Jade didn't repsond; she was fast asleep.

With a slight smile, Dave entered the door and had his vision flooded by light. Then darkness came, as always.

_

Dave awoke with a start. He glanced around and found that he was in the dorm once again.

"Jade?" he called out, looking to his right. Likewise, Jade was coming to.

"Was that... real?" she asked, rubbing her eyes.

Dave felt his left foreleg. His pants weren't ripped like they were earlier, but he was definitely sore in the exact same spot that the puddle had clawed him. "Whatever happened, happened. I'm not sure how, though."

Jade nodded, then blushed. "Promise you won't tell anyone what the other Jade said?"

Dave nodded. "Like I said, don't sweat. I won't say shit. My lips are locked up tighter than an Amish chastity belt."

Jade giggled. "Alright then, good." she said, stretching. Dave was exhausted, and he could assume that Jade was as well.

John called them from the kitchen. "Oh, hey. You two finally woke up." he said, fixing himself a sandwich.

"Woke up?" Dave inquired, turning around.

"Yeah, you were both out for like an hour. We couldn't wake you up at all." responded John, slathering his slice of bread with strawberry jelly. In any other situation, Dave would have called out the blasphemy of not using apple jam, but that would have to wait.

Dave looked at Jade with a knowing gaze. They would have to talk to John about it later, that was for sure.

Jade leaned in and whispered. "Should we both tell him? He's my brother, he should listen to me" she asked. Unlike Dave and Rose, John and Jade weren't biological siblings; Jade had been adopted when she they were both babies.

Dave shook his head. "Let me handle it. It's less overwhelming if only one person talks to him about it. Who knows, he might know something."

With a nod, Jade stood up and folded up her laptop, heading up to her room.

As soon as they were alone, John leaned on the counter and smirked. "So." he said with a mischievous grin. "Falling asleep with Jade, hm?"

"It's not what you think, Egbert. Fuck off."

"Hey, I never said anything." John retorted with a laugh. "I think it's kinda cute."

Dave sipped the last of his apple juice. "I have absolutely no clue what you're talking about."

John wiggled his eyebrows. "I think you d- ow!" he shouted, having been soundly thunked on the head by an empty bottle of apple juice.

Dave smirked and walked upstairs, going to get ready for the next day.

Dave took a seat in his history class next to John the next day. Behind them sat Jade and Rose, while the other seats were all occupied by other students they didn't know. Dave didn't spot plane kid anywhere. However, he did spot another familiar face; the kid that plane kid was talking to as they exited the auditorium.

The boy sat with an annoyed expression, as if he were pissed off at the world. He wore his uniform pants a little high and had both his jacket and shirt tucked in; he looked pretty silly, though he was obviously attempting to look proper.

Before Dave could ask him anything, the teacher stood up the podium. He looked like he was in his 50's, with gray hair and a well-trimmed beard; John muttered something about him looking like 'the old guy from Highlander'.

"Alright, kids. Let me get one thing straight about this class. My name is Edgar Withers. You will call me Mr. Withers. While you are here, my word is law. I am here to teach you history, so that you do not repeat the mistakes of our ancestors. There shall be no talking; only learning." announced the teacher. "We will begin with the Greeks and their mythologies, such as the legend of Perseus. But first, roll call."

John looked over to Dave. "I've got this course wrapped up. I know all about Greek mythology. It's kinda a hobby of mine."

Dave's eyes widened a bit. "Like, Hermes and Hypnos and shit?" he asked. He knew their names were from Greek Mythology, but he next to nothing about the Gods that their Personas were named after.

"Like that, yeah." John responded with a smile.

"John Egbert." called Mr. Withers. John declared himself present.

"Good, you can tell me more about it, then. I don't know much." Dave responded.

"Dave Strider."

"Here." Dave responded, already not too keen on Mr. Withers.

John shrugged. "If you want. There's so much out there. Tons of books and legends and stuff. There's also different interpretations of them all."

"Karkat Vantas."

Dave saw plane kid's friend raise his hand. So his name was Karkat. What kind of name was that? Maybe he was an exchange student. At least Dave had a name to go by; he'd have to talk to him later.

John smirked and sat back. "I'll help you brush up on your stuff at some other point. Don't worr-"

"Mr. Egbert." called Mr. Withers. "Perhaps you and Mr. Strider find your conversations more important than the class. It is the first day of school, after all. Why pay attention?"

Dave groaned. 'Here we go', he thought to himself.

"To make an example of you both, you'll both have plenty of time to talk during detention. I'll see you both at the end of the day."

Dave groaned once more and placed his head on his desk. It was already turning into a long day.

Mr. Withers cleared his throat. "Now then. We shall begin with the Legend of Perseus. Most of you may know the story from the cult classic movie 'Clash of the Titans', but of course, the legend itself is much older than that. It began with the Oracle telling King Acrisius that his daughter Danae's son would one day kill him. To prevent this, Acrisius locked his daughter in a tower so that she would never conceive.

"However, Zeus had different plans. He visited Danae in her tower and impregnated her, and when Acrisius found out, he had both Danae and her baby, whom she named Perseus, cast out to sea in a coffin. By divine intervention or luck, they washed up onto the island of Seriphos and lived there.

"The king of Seriphos, Polydectes, sent Perseus on a quest to slay the Gorgon Medusa once he was an adult, for he did not bring a wedding present to Ploydectes' wedding.

"Perseus received many gifts from the Gods, namely a helmet of invisibility and a shield that could reflect the stare of a Gorgon. He used these tools to successfully take the head of Medusa. Later, Perseus would foil Poseidon's attempt to have a sea monster known as the Kraken to eat the daughter of Cypheus, named Andromeda. Perseus married Andromeda, and their descendants became great kings. Eventually Perseus was killed by Dionysus, but he and Andromeda became constellations in the sky."

The lecture dragged onwards. John listened intently even though he was plenty upset about the detention, while Dave sat there and resolved to just ask John about it later.

_

At the end of the day, Dave and John returned to Mr. Wither's. "Sit here, boys. I'll be back in forty-five minutes to let you out."

Dave and John took their seats, both of them sighing. As soon as Withers left the room, Dave stood. "Finally."

John looked around the room, as if looking for something to use in an elaborate escape plan. Dave shook his head. "Just stay sitting. I have to tell you something. It's important."

John tilted his head. "What's up?"

"Alright." Dave began, not sure how to start. "You ever heard of the 'Gateway Code'?"

"The Gateway Code? Yeah, I've heard of it. It's supposedly a code that lets someone dump their consciousness into a computer. It's an old Urban Legend. There's different ways that people have said that you can input it; typing the word and pressing enter, holding alt and typing it, and so on. Supposedly, it only works for certain people." John responded. Dave was taken aback; he hadn't expected John to know THAT much. "Why, what's up?"

Dave scratched the back of his neck. "Alright, well... This is going to sound weird, but... Me and Jade? We... did it last night."

He took a second to think about what he just said. "SHIT. I mean we did the fucking Gateway Code last night. You know what the fuck I meant." he protested as John snickered and sneered. Dave kicked him in the knee, but still he laughed.

"Ah..." John said, catching a breath and wiping away a tear. "No, but seriously, did you?"

"Yeah." Dave nodded. "Next thing; have you had any dreams lately? Anything involving falling in a black bunch of nothingness until you grabbed a card?"

John's eyes widened. "How the hell did you know?"

"Me and Jade have had the same dream. Just different cards. It's a sign." Dave said. "I know this sounds stupid as fuck, but you've got to trust me."

"A sign of what?"

"That you've got some sort of power. That can only be used in the computer when you enter it with the Code."

John lifted an eyebrow. "So... there's a... way to get inside the computer?"

"There's like a whole world in there. And it's full of these weird black things... Oh! And apparently something jumps you and talks to you about your inner thoughts. The thoughts that you don't want to hear. It, like, takes a new form if you deny it." Dave added. "It happened with Jade."

John put a finger to the bridge of his nose. "I want to believe you, but you know how ridiculous this all sounds, right?"

"Look at who you're talking to, John." Dave said. "Do you honestly think Dave fucking Strider would be making this up?"

"No... I guess not." John said. "So, what, you want me to do the Code myself?"

"When me and Jade did it at the same time, we ended up in the same place. So if all three of us do it, we should end up in the same place."

"Okay... I guess it's worth a shot. Anything to experience some real supernatural stuff." John replied, still a little doubtful.

"Alright. We'll try it later tonight. If it works well, we'll get Rose on this too." Dave said.

After almost an hour, Mr. Withers unlocked the door and let the boys out. Along with John, Dave returned to the dorm for another night of checking out the mysterious world in the computer.


	6. Chapter 6 - The Key

"I'm heading to the library for a bit." Rose announced to the others. "I want to look up some books for us to go over to help us out in English, assuming that Mrs. Vendel isn't going to teach us anything."

"Cool." Dave responded, waving her off from the sofa. It was true; Mrs. Vendel had entered the class, introduced herself, and then began complaining about her life. There wasn't any teaching going on at all. There's always one teacher like that, after all, no matter where you go; even in a high-end establishment like Sassacre.

However, that was besides the point. Now that Rose was out of the dorm, Dave, John, and Jade could initiate the code and attempt to enter the world inside the computer without risk of discovery. When it was only Dave and Jade, the scene looked less incriminating; it was only the two of them slumped over on the sofa after a long day. In this case, however, it would look odd if all three of them were out cold with their faces on their keyboards.

Dave checked his phone's clock. 6:22 PM.

Dave gathered them in the living room with their laptops. "Alright. First thing's first. When we get in there, find John. I don't think we'll have any trouble with the weird black things since we have Personas, but John is defenseless."

Jade nodded obediently, while John sat there with a doubtful look on his face. "No pressure, right? Do we even know what happens if we, like, die in here?"

Dave smirked. "No, we don't. I don't intend to find out, either. We ready?"

"Ready!" Jade said with a smile. After her recent adventure in the computer world, she felt like she needed to prove herself. She would have her opportunity soon.

"Ready." John replied. He would never admit that he was extremely excited but also rather terrified of what was going to happen.

"Now." Dave said, executing the string of keys that made up the Gateway Code. Jade repeated it, as did John, and within a short moment, all three kids had passed out as their consciousness entered the other world.

Dave opened his eyes as soon as he came to and scrambled to his feet. He saw that he was in a library, a twisted sort of library at that. The walls were bookshelves that towered above him, twisting and fading into a heavy fog that obscured his vision past a few yards.

Dave tightened his right hand into a fist, and to his expectation, his katana materialized into his hand. Armed and ready, he turned around to check the area out. Jade was behind him, standing up after coming to as well.

"Oh, good. We ended up at the same spot." Dave said, checking around for John. He was nowhere to be seen.

"Where'd you get the sword?" Jade asked, pointing to Dave's katana.

"Oh, this thing? Uh... you just kinda will it to exist or something. It's weird. Just focus and clench your fist or something." Dave replied.

Jade looked down at her hands and formed them into fists, concentrating hard. A flash occurred, and when it dimmed, a rifle sat in Jade's hands.

"Holy shit, you get a rifle?" Dave said, almost a little jealous. Almost.

"Looks like it! Should we find John?" Jade said, loading the gun with a level of familiarity that only marksmen would have. The fact that Jade looked so familiar with firearms admittedly frightened Dave. He silently reminded himself to never piss her off.

"Yeah." Dave said, looking around. "We should stick together in case any more of those weird things show up."

Jade nodded and followed Dave through the odd library, calling John's name. Dave heard a familiar sound and whirled around, holding his katana at the ready. Sure enough, there was another one of the odd puddle creatures, creeping up behind Jade.

Dave leapt forward and attempted a slash, despite the result of the last time he tried such a thing. To his surprise, the puddle recoiled from the blow as if in pain. Dave understood what this meant; only those with a Persona could harm the freakish monsters. They really needed to come up with a name for these things.

Jade took this as an opening and fired her rifle, striking the monster with a spray of bullets. The monster recoiled once more, then dissipated into smoke.

"Alright." Dave said. "So we don't need to rely on our Personas completely, then."

Multiple bullet shells hit the ground at Jade's feet. "Good! Where do we go now, then?"

Dave looked around at their surroundings. With all the books lining the walls and the heavy fog hindering vision, it was difficult to tell if they had passed this particular section of the library. "Shit, I don't know. It's like a maze in here."

She put a hand to her chin as she looked around. "Alright then. Watch this." Jade said, approaching a bookshelf. She reached forward and pulled one of the books out slightly, to where it stuck out of the bookshelf without falling. "Now we know we've been here before."

"Wow, good thinking. Remind me to never go into the computer without you again. I don't even know how I made it around your forest place." Dave said, smirking.

"Umm... Can we not talk about the forest place again?" Jade said, her happy expression fading as she thought about the encounter with her shadow.

"Oh." Dave said, feeling bad. "My bad."

"It's alright." Jade said, shaking her head. "Let's keep going."

Dave nodded and continued on while Jade followed, tilting books out of the bookshelves as they went forward. They continued to encounter more black puddles; Jade had deemed them 'shadows'; that fell to their attacks. They felt incredibly powerful and their confidence was at a peak when they finally found who they were looking for.

Sure enough, John was facing a shadowy, yellow-eyed version of himself.

"John Egbert. Prankster extraordinare, movie expert, investigator of supernatural phenomena." said Shadow John, pacing back and forth in front of the real John. "But really, what the hell is all that worth? You think that you can get a degree in joy buzzers and spray flowers? You think you can land a good job with a bunch of Nicholas Cage quotes on your resume?"

John shudderd. "Shut up." he muttered, gripping his fists.

"What's the matter, underachiever?" Shadow John asked mockingly. "I'm just having a heart-to-heart with myself. Trust me, I know how you feel. I am you, and you are me."

"I said shut up!" John said, quivering. "What do you know about me?"

"I know EVERYTHING about you! Weren't you listening? I'm you." Shadow John said, ceasing his pacing. "I'll keep going, if you don't believe me. Let's talk all about how you're dreading the next two years. Who cares if your friends are here? Who cares if this could be your best high school year ever? That's not what you're worried about. You're terrified of life after High School. What use is the world going to have for you? Your friends all have talents that are worth something. You? You're just a little nerdy kid who will never go anywhere in life. You're scared, aren't you? You know that you'll be left behind while they go on to bigger and better things."

"They would never do that!" John protested. "I'm not worthless! And..."

Dave stepped forward. "John, don't say it!"

"And... you're not me!"

In a manner remniscient of Shadow Jade's transformation, Shadow John cackled as the blue smoke that surrounded him turned to blood red. The smoke rose and covered Shadow John's form, blocking him from view as he took a new shape.

Dave looked to Jade, and nodded. His card descended slowly in front of him, and with a battle-like exclamation of 'Hermes!", he sliced through it with his sword, shattering the card into pieces. Hermes materialized before him, holding his staff (Dave had recently learned that the proper word was 'Caduceus', but 'staff' just seemed to come mind).

Jade's card descended in a similar manner. "Hypnos!" she cried, aiming and firing at the card with her gun. Upon its' shattering, Hypnos materialized before her as well. Their Personas armed and ready, Dave and Jade stood to watch Shadow John reveal its true form.

The smoke dissipated, and there stood a large, twisted version of John clad like a Spartan warrior, holding a sword in one hand and a shield in the other. Though nowhere near the size of Shadow Jade's true form, it was still rather large, reaching to at least 7 feet in height.

"I am a Shadow, the true self." it announced, swinging its sword around idly. " If the fool would persist in his folly, he would become wise. Now come, and show me your worth!"

"You'll get more than that!" Dave shouted. "Let's go, Hermes! Burn his ass!"

Hermes obeted and sent a fireball hurtling at Shadow John. Shadow John, completely undeterred, raised its shield and caught the blast. The fireball completely vanished, and the only evidence that the fireball had been fired at all was the red glow of Shadow John's shield.

"Aww, what the hell?" Dave shouted, gripping his blade angrily.

"Just hang on!" Jade said, preparing to command Hypnos. Before she could even mutter an order, Shadow John swung his shield and released a fireball from it. The fireball hurtled right towards Jade.

Jade screamed and covered her face with her arm, anticipating the end, but Hypnos dove in and took the hit. Jade fell back from the blast regardless, the damage her Persona receiving from the blast happening to her as well.

"Shit!" Dave shouted, unsure as to what they should do. "This thing can throw our attacks back at us."

Jade stumbled to her feet and shook her head to regain her composure. "What do we do then?"

"I don't know!" Dave said, ordering Hermes to attack with his staff. Shadow John brought up his sword, blocking the strike.

"Not so fast!" the shadowy being shouted, forcing Hermes back with a powerful push.

"Hypnos!" Jade shouted, willing to try again. She thrust her hand forward to imitate Dave's commanding of Hermes. Hypnos responded by swinging its hypnotic clock in a circle, sending a blast of ice towards Shadow John.

Shadow John attempted to shield itself but was thrown back by the blast, apparently weak to the power of ice. Slowly its shield faded from the deep red glow to a bright blue glow, somehow taking on a new power.

"I think I get it!" Jade called. "If we hit it with fire, it'll block fire and will be weak to ice! If we hit it with ice, it'll block ice and be weak to fire!"

Dave looked at her and nodded. "Good call!" he shouted, throwing his hand forward once more. "Now!" he shouted as Hermes tossed another ball of flame. Once more, Shadow John attempted to raise the shield, but the blast knocked the shield away and sent Shadow John to the ground.

"Now!" Jade said, looking to Dave. "Let's get him while he's down!"

"Right!" Dave called back, running forward alongside Jade. He swung wildly while Jade unloaded clip after clip, damaging their foe greatly. With a final shout, Dave leapt into the air and drove his katana through Shadow John's chest, causing it to dissipate into smoke as it was finally defeated.

Jade giggled in victory and Dave pumped his fist, glad that they at least had the power to take down some major threats. If John was going to get a Persona; and if this were anything like Jade's scenario, then he would; then the three of them would be even more powerful.

Dave turned and looked to John, who was standing face to face with his Shadow once more.

"John!" Dave called to his friend. "Look, don't deny it. It ain't gonna go away unless you accept it."

"What?" John said, looking at Dave with a raised eyebrow.

"Egbert, just do what I say, alright? It'll make sense if you go with it."

John sighed and looked at his Shadow self. "I guess you weren't lying. I'm scared as hell!" he admitted, scratching his neck. "There's nothing that frightens me more than life after High School. But still, that doesn't mean that I'm not going to have to deal with it. I think my friends will be there to help me get through it, no matter how different we are. That's what friends are far. You know what it's like to have friends to depend on... You are me, right? Yeah, you are."

Shadow John smiled and disappeared into thin air, giving way to a grey-skinned, muscular man with styled back-hair and a set of Spartan Armor. He wore a shield on his left arm but bore no weapon, and wore a helmet that resembled the beak of an eagle. He wore a long blue cloak that fluttered behind him.

"Perseus." John muttered, having identified his Persona's name. Perseus faded from view to reveal a card, bearing the illustration of a man holding a bag on a stick and being followed by a dog. It was numbered 0. The card disappeared, and John was bathed in blue light just as Jade was.

"Looks like John's got one too now." Dave said, going over to his friend. "You alright, man?"

John looked up at Dave and nodded, struggling to get to his feet. "Yeah. Just tired."

"Well then, let's get you home." Dave said, helping John up and supporting him with his shoulder.

John looked at Dave and Jade. "So, why did we come here then? Was it just some kind of initiation thing for me, to get me on your team?"

Dave shrugged. "Honestly, I just want to know more about what's going on here. We've been given these weird powers for a reason, and if we keep going in here, maybe we'll learn more. Besides, it's something bigger than us. We'll be the next students-by-day, destroyers-of-the-supernatural-by-night. We'll get all Buffy on their Shadow asses."

John smirked. He DID like Buffy.

Jade pointed to the door that had appeared at the end of a hall in the library. "Over there." she said. "We'll be able to get out."

"Right." Dave replied, helping John through the door and back into the real world.

Dave awoke with a start, finding himself back on the sofa. He fumbled and searched for his phone, and when he found it, he checked the time. 7:22 PM.

"We've been out for about an hour. Rose should be back any second now." he announced to the others, who were only just awakening. John appeared especially sluggish, having gone through quite the ordeal.

"Should we tell her now?" Jade asked. "She couldn't deny all three of us, could she?"

Dave shook his head. "No, I'll tell her. Like with John, I don't want to overwhelm her or anything. This is hard to believe. I only want you two to confirm it if she asks."

Jade nodded in response. John crossed his arms. "So did we find out anything new?"

Dave shook his head. "No. Your escapade went down just like Jade's did."

"So, you have to face you shadow before you can get a Persona?"

"In you and Jade's cases, yeah."

Jade looked at Dave in confusion. "What do you mean? You didn't have to deal with your shadow?"

"No." Dave said, shaking his head. "I'm not sure why, but I was able to use my Persona from the beginning. It just took you being under attack for it to activate, I guess. All the more reason to check more into this place."

John nodded. He was too tired to be excited. "We'll get Rose on it tomorrow, then?" he asked.

"Yeah, I think so." Dave said. "I'll see if I can talk to her."

Jade looked to her brother, frowning. "John, you should get to bed. We'll talk about it all tomorrow once you're rested."

John nodded, standing with a groan. "Alright. Night." he said, dragging himself upstairs to bed.

As soon as John was out of earshot, Jade turned to Dave and smiled. "You were amazing in there, you know!"

Dave's eyebrow rose. "The hell do you mean? You were the one who was making all the smart observations and stuff. I would have been lost in there if you weren't there to act like a human compass."

Jade giggled, her cheeks flushed. "Awww, you don't mean that."

"No, seriously." Dave replied, smiling slightly. "Don't let me go in there without you there, alright? I would have no clue on what to do other than hitting things."

"Alright, alright. I guess someone has to keep an eye on you, Mr. Strider." Jade replied. "You just keep hitting things and let me do all the thinking."

"That's all I ever wanted."

Jade laughed, sitting back in the loveseat across from the one Dave was sitting in. "Seriously, though, thank you. Bringing me in there, having me face my shadow... It was all really scary when it was going on, but now that it happened, I think I understand myself better. I really needed that. And it wouldn't have happened without you."

Dave wasn't sure how to respond. "Well... that's what I'm here for. Catalyst of embarassing personal revelations and burner of large shadow things."

Jade giggled again. "Thanks, Dave... really." she said. She got up and stood before him, holding her hands behind her back as if she were nervous. After a deep breath, she bent over and kissed Dave on the cheek, then retreated up to her room.

Dave placed a hand on his cheek, his minding taking a while to register what had just happened. He thought about what Jade was thinking, but as he did, he saw something.

In his mind, he could picture a card, identical to the one that Jade used to summon her Persona. In addition, he could hear a booming voice not unlike the one that came from Hermes.

"I am thou.

Thou art I.

The bonds that you forge will become your strength.

You shall receive a blessing when creating Personas of the Sun Arcana."

The card then faded from his mind. He had no clue what had just happened, other than the fact that it had something to do with Personas. Creating Personas? He could have more than one?

Perhaps it was a question better left unanswered until the next visit to the computer world. Dave decided to turn in early, the exploration in the computer having worn him out.

Dave saw a sight that he hadn't expected that night in his sleep. He opened his eyes to the sight of a blue room. The Velvet Room. Igor was right; he did indeed return here.

"Welcome to the Velvet Room." Igor said, clasping his hands together. "It seems that you have awakened to your power at last. And it seems that you have taken a number of your friends along on your journey as well. I expect great things from the strength of your bonds."

Margaret nodded. "You possess the power of the Wild Card. With it, you can turn your bonds with people, your 'social links', into new Personas."

Igor flipped over a card, showing the card of the Sun Arcana. "You have already acquired the power of the Sun Arcana. I look forward to seeing what other bonds you might establish so that you may acquire even more power."

Dave had sat there the entire time, all the information being a lot to take in all at once. "So let me get this straight. If I make more friends, I'll get more Personas?"

Igor nodded with his signature creepy smile. "To put it plainly, yes."

"Alright. I think I get it." Dave said. "Make friends, get Personas. Got it."

Igor's smile faded to a look of exasperation, looking as if he was upset that he didn't get to hint at the power using cryptic allegory. "Yes, well... From now on, you will be able to enter this room at your own will. Take this."

A small key made of a metal the same color as the rest of the room floated down to the table. "This is the Velvet Key. Use it in good fatih."

Dave took the key and pocketed it.

"Remember, you are responsible for all of your own actions." Igor said. "Take these words to heart, and continue on your journey. Bonds are power. Remember that."

With a nod, Dave took that as a cue to close his eyes. He slowly felt himself fading from the Velvet room, and when he next opened his eyes, morning had come to the dorm.


	7. Chapter 7 - The Gang's All Here

The day dragged by as Dave looked for an opportunity to talk to Rose, but his sister had made herself busy since they had arrived. She was always reclusive, but since they had arrived at the high-standing Sassacre Academy, she had become even more distant due to her pursuit of high marks and grades. Now that they attended a reputable school (especially in comparison to their old High School), she had an even greater chance of going Ivy League if she wanted to.

To make matters worse, Jade seemed to be avoiding him that day. Every greeting, every utterance of "hey" was met with an "I should go" or an "I need to be somewhere" from her. Was she upset that Dave was once again taking all the responsiblity of talking to the next potential Persona user?

John had been the only person that Dave was able to talk to throughout the whole day. He knew little about the world inside the computer or the Gateway Code itself; a quick internet search turned up absolutely nothing. Apparently, the Code only existed through word-of-mouth. In that case, it must have been a local Urban Legend, which made Dave wonder who originally discovered it. Was it possible that there were others capable of entering the computer? It was a possibility that they couldn't discount.

On that matter, Dave had learned of the Code from plane kid, who had attended the school as well. Dave was thoroughly convinced that plane kid, whatever his name was, was involved with the computer world as well. Maybe he had gotten Karkat into it as well. There was only one way to be sure, and that was to get the information from plane kid himself.

Dave found that he was incredibly hard to track. Whenever he had found him in the halls, he would always disapppear from sight before Dave had a chance to stop him. With no name to call out, Dave couldn't verbally stop him either. Neither John nor Jade knew anything about him; they knew Karkat since he had attended the school as a freshman, but his friend was notoriously elusive.

He considered asking Karkat. That seemed to be the best course of action. Who else knew him? Besides, Dave actually took classes with Karkat, while he took none with plane kid.

Dave's missions were clear; talk to Rose, talk to Karkat, talk to plane kid.

As he walked through the halls with John to their final class of the day, they passed by one of the janitors. Dave was alarmed to see that he was, in fact, saying goodbye to plane kid after a conversation.

"Hang on." Dave said to John, heading over to the janitor. Plane kid had since disappeared into the crowd of students moving from class to class, but maybe the janitor knew something. "Uh, excuse me." Dave said.

The janitor turned around, looking at Dave. The man looked like quite the oddball; he had skin of an almost orange tone, with rather plain brown hair. His janitor's uniform was worn casually, with a green T-shirt featuring a winged sword being visible underneath. He wore a nametag that said "Hello, my name is Andrew"; which was odd, because none of the other janitors wore nametags.

Andrew said nothing, simply looking at Dave. Dave looked around awkwardly, having expected a "What?" or a "Yes?".

"Uh... Did you know that kid who you were just talking to?" Dave asked.

"Yes." replied Andrew.

Dave was a little unnerved. Either he was socially inept, or he was simply an incredibly odd person. "What was his name?" continued Dave.

"Gamzee Makara. Junior." Andrew replied. "'Junior' being his year. Who knows what his father's name is."

Dave finally had a name. "Alright, thanks." he said, still a little weirded out by Andrew's knowing stare and blank expression. Dave made note to avoid him in the future.

Dave returned to where John was, and together they walked to their last class; Physical Education.

As was the usual with PE, the gym teacher Mr. Harlan placed some sports equipment around and then sat down, letting the students do whatever they wished. A few of them sat aside (Dave and John included), while a few others grabbed a few dodgeballs and lobbed them at each other.

Dave and John were talking about miscellaneous topics when they both heard a loud 'thunk', then a 'thud'. They both whirled their heads around to see one student on the ground, having been hit with a dodgeball. Another 'thunk' and one more student was on the ground, nearly five feet away from where he was standing. Dave had never seen someone getting nailed with a dodgeball so hard; whoever had thrown it must have been a powerhouse.

John shook his head at the two poor saps that had been grounded. "Looks like Equius is on the field. This won't last long."

"Equius?" Dave said, looking up. Equius had to be the musclebound student in suglasses who was lobbing dodgeballs like cannonballs.

"Equius Zahhak." John said, pointing the musclebound student out. "Freakishly strong guy, one of those foreign exchange students. Remember when Jadce said that we used to have an archery team until there was an equipment shortage? He couldn't pull a bowstring back without snapping the bow in half. Getting hit by him is a death sentence, so people usually steer clear with him."

"Exchange students?" Dave asked, looking at John.

"Yeah. During our freshman year, we got 12 new students. They were all in some sort of accident in their home country and they all moved to the US. They all have some sort of post-traumatic amnesia and can't remember anything about where they're from or what happened to them. All they know is that they're all really close, and they all hang out in one group most of the time. They all have a dorm to themselves."

"Do you know any of the others?" Dave asked.

"Sure I do." John replied. "I can point out a few that are in this class right now. There's Equius, like I said before; Sollux right over there, who's a master computer programmer. He teaches the comp applications teacher things, I hear; there's Eridan over there, who's kind of an oddball. He's really into science and stuff. And there's also Tavros; he's been in a wheelchair since he got here, but he's still a really happy, capable person."

Dave noted the four of them. "The other eight aren't here, right?"

John nodded. "Karkat and his friend are in a different class right now, and the girls in the group obviously don't take PE with us. Aradia, Nepeta, Kanaya, Terezi, Vriska, and Feferi."

"Weird names. They don't sound like the usual 'Pierre', 'Hanz', or 'Jose'. You sure you don't know where they're from?"

"Positive. Neither do they. They just showed up one day for all we know." replied John. "You sure it was Karkat's friend that gave you the Code?"

"Gamzee is his name, and yeah, I'm positive it was him." Dave said. "I'm wondering if any of them can use the Code too. I don't know why he would tell a random stranger like me and not tell his friends."

"Maybe he didn't know it was legit and just wanted someone to try it out for him because he was curious about the Urban Legend." John said. "Maybe he was too afraid to try it himself."

"I don' know." Dave said, crossing his arms.

As they continued talking, Equius came over to them.

"Greetings." Equius said, more to Dave than to John. "I understand you're new to the school, yes?"

"That's right." Dave said, standing. "Dave Strider. Spinner of ill beats." he said, extending his hand to Equius.

Equius took his hand in a firm grip and shook it, causing immense pain to Dave, who felt that he wouldn't be able to use his right hand well for a few days. "A pleasure to meet you. Perhaps you should consider joining the Track team. We are short on members and some new blood would be appreciated."

Dave recovered from the intense grip, trying his hardest not to tear up or audibly cry out in pain. "N-nah. Sports isn't really my thing."

Equius tightened his grip.

"Shit, shit, shit, alright! I'll check it out sometime later!" Dave shouted, pulling his hand away from Equius' guillotine of a hand.

"Thank you." Equius said with a smile, revealing many missing and broken teeth. "I shall see you there, Strider."

With that, Equius took his leave as the final bell rang.

Dave felt a familiar tingle in his head, and could see another card in his head. The voice that he had heard yesterday rang in his head;

"I am thou.

Thou art I.

The bonds that you forge will become your strength.

You shall receive a blessing when creating Personas of the Strength Arcana."

So this was what Igor was talking about. He must have gotten the Strength Arcana from Equius. However, there were much more important things to pay attention to at the moment.

"Fuck!" Dave said as soon as Equius was out of earshot. "Son of a bitch, it feels like my hand is broken!"

John shook his head. "I told you he was freakishly strong. Also, 'Spinner of ill beats', Dave?"

"Hey, don't judge me for getting my spin on, yo." Dave said, shaking his hand out of pain. "Sometimes I gotta represent."

"Stop talking like that, Dave."

"Hater."

Dave didn't find any trace of Gamzee after school and left to the dorm, resigned. Maybe heading to the foreign exchange student dorm would be a good idea once he found out where they lived.

Entering the dorm, Dave saw Rose reading on the sofa, while John and Jade were saving up groceries in the kitchen.

"Rose, can I talk to you for a bit?" Dave asked?

"Is it about the dreams and the world inside the computer?" she asked, not even looking up from her book.

Dave looked at Jade and John, crossing his arms. "You told her? Seriously?"

John shrugged. "Don't look at me!"

Jade nodded. "Well, you were taking a while. I decided to fill her in. She believes us."

"Do you?" Dave asked Rose, looking at her.

Rose noddded. "I had an odd dream identical to John and Jade's. It would've seemed coincidental if they hadn't guessed it before I was able to tell them about it. I'd like to see this computer dimension for myself."

"Just a warning." Dave said, crossing his arms. "When you're in there, you're going to be faced with a shadow version of yourself. It's going to talk to you about your weaknesses and innermost thoughts. You'll have to be able to accept it. If you deny it, it'll turn on you and go berserk."

"I'm well in-tune with my own emotions. I'll be fine." Rose said, preparing her laptop. "Shall we?"

Dave nodded. "Yeah. Let me grab my computer really quick."

Within a few minutes, the four of them had gathered in the living room.

"Ready?" Dave asked.

The other three nodded in reply.

"Now." Dave said, inputting the command. Jade, John and Rose followed and in a moment, they had all slipped out of consciousness and into the computer world.

_

Dave awoke to feel his hands on cold brick. Opening his eyes, he could see that he was in some sort of Gothic castle or cathedral.

The architecture was magnificently detailed, and the paintings that decorated the walls portrayed wizards of all cultures and types. The generic western wizard, the eastern carpet-flying wizard, and many more. The chandeliers that hung from the ceiling burned with flames of many different colors. Lining the walls were pedestals holding several magical items; wands, wizard hats, and crystal balls.

Dave heard both John and Jade coming to behind him. "Rose's place is pretty slick." he mused, looking around.

John rubbed his forehead. "Talk about." he said, reaching over to touch a wand on one of the pedestals. His touch was interrupted by an electric shock, sending him back a few feet.

"Dude!" Dave shouted, going over to help him up. "Lesson learned. Don't touch the cool wizard shit."

John nodded, patting down his hair that was now up on end. "Right. Let's go."

"Hang on." Jade said, materializing her weapon into view. "Remember how I told you to summon your weapon?"

"Yeah. Just focus really hard and grip your hand." John said. As he said, he foucsed himself and tightened his grip. The characteristic flash occurred, and John was holding a warhammer. John nearly dropped it, but was able to hoist it up. "Wow, neat." he said, giving it a two handed swing. The hammer struck the ground, causing a crack in the stone to form.

Dave nodded, impressed. "We better get to Rose, quick. I'm pretty sure she'll just tell her Shadow self to fuck off, but you never know."

The other two nodded and followed Dave through the castle, encountering greater resistance from the Shadows than in John or Jade's instances. John's Persona, Perseus, seemed to be wind-oriented, being capable of conjuring great gusts to blow their enemies away. This created an opportunity for teamwork between him and Jade, who could freeze them while he blew them away to shatter them against a wall.

John was performing better than Dave had thought. Then again, this kind of thing was probably John's dream; to be a hero like in all of his shitty movies. Maybe once they got Rose into the gang, they'd find out more about themselves and why they were given their powers. She was good at deducing things.

Dave, meanwhile, wasn't seeing what Igor meant by changing Personas. When he tried calling out the name of a different Greek God, Hermes appeared anyway and the other two looked at him weird.

Regardless of his single Persona, Dave was still easily the powerhouse of the group. Having been the one with the Persona before anyone else, regardless of how short of a time frame there was between each of them receiving their Personas. He was still the most experienced, and his Persona seemed like a cut above the rest.

As they continued through the halls, John repeatedly hammered the bricks so that they could tell where they had already been. Eventually they reached a large set of double stone doors, obviously the entrance to a grand room.

"This must be it." Dave said, going forward to push them forward. The doors were locked. "Dammit, locked. We need to break them down."

"Got it." John said, stepping forward and swinging his hammer at the doors. His hammer met the stone with force, but caused no damage and shook John up from the recoil.

Jade looked up at it. "You know how to break stone, right Dave?"

"Hell if I know." Dave replied. "Hitting it a lot apparently won't work."

"If you rapidly heat it and cool it, it might break. We should try that." she said, looking to him.

Dave shrugged. It was a better plan than any. He summoned Hermes and had it blast the door with a continuous stream of flame until the door was slightly glowing with heat. Jade followed suit with a few blasts of ice, cooling the door down to a normal temperature.

"Now, John!" she shouted. John responded by summoning Perseus and having him ram the door with his arm-mounted shield. The now-brittle wall crumbled easily from the force, opening a way to the room where Rose and her Shadow were standing.

It looked like an elegant throne room, with royal purple drapes and banners hanging around, as well as massive murals of wizards lining the walls.

"Oh, look. Your friends are here to hear all about you." Shadow Rose said, sitting in the throne sideways with a hand supporting her head.

"You can continue talking all you wish, but you're not going to upset me." Rose responded. "I've already told you, I accept you as who I am."

"You can say that all you want, but is it really true?" Shadow Rose asked. "You have to mean it! And you don't. You're frustrated, I can tell. You're upset because I'm not going away when you tell me to. Because things aren't going your way."

Rose said nothing, her stoic, emotionless face giving way to a frown. Her Shadow was touching a nerve.

"You think you've got everything figured out, don't you?" Shadow Rose said, descending from her throne and approaching Rose. "Books, studying, being informed, being ahead of the academic game... That's knowledge. Not wisdom. You have a singular lack of a sense of practical application, and you know it."

"You're wrong." Rose said defiantly as her Shadow drew closer. "That's not what I'm like." she protested, her plan of ignoring her Shadow's taunting going up in flames.

"When you're out of your element, you get upset. When things aren't going how you like, your tough, high-and-mighty act shatters instantly. Even John is more adaptable than you are!"

"Stop!" Rose cried out, her facade of emotionlessness completely eroded.

"The world isn't going to bend to your will. It's high time you realize that and start doing something more productive than writing shitty fanfiction that no one will ever read! Trust me, I know! Because I am you, and you are me!"

"No!" Rose shouted. "No, you are not me!"

"Dammit!" Dave said, summoning his Persona. It was coming. John and Jade did the same, preparing for battle.

Shadow Rose cackled loudly, undergoing her transformation. The room became much brighter as two massive, pearlescent wings emerged from the red smoke. Shadow Rose's main body came into view shortly after, resembling Rose wrapped in fancy linens. Her shining appearance was of great contrast to the interior of the dark, dimly lit castle. Shadow Rose carried two lances, both of them held high and proudly.

"I am a Shadow, the true self!" Shadow Rose announced. "Come and show me what you can do!"

Dave readily drew his sword and immediately let Hermes unleash its flurry of flames.

Shadow Rose recoiled slightly, but it was obvious that the attack was like a bug bite to her.

John had Perseus go next, bringing up a gust of wind at her. Again she was pushed back, taking little damage.

"It's going to take more than that!" Shadow Rose shouted, raising one of her lances and summoning a bolt of lightning. The bolt shot out and struck Dave square in the chest.

"FUCK!" Dave cried as he flew back. If Jade's weakness was fire and John's was ice, then it appeared that his was lightning. He hit the ground hard and slid a bit, dropping his katana.

"Dave!" Jade said, commanding Hypnos to use a healing spell on Dave.

Dave felt his strength returning as the spell hit him, and he was able to return to his feet. This was not an ideal; they were doing crap for damage to it, and it possessed the ability to hit his weakness.

Igor's words rang in his mind; Bonds were his power. Who was he close to?

Dave looked at Jade, who had a look of worry on her face. He remembered the card that had appeared in his mind, and heard a name being called out in his mind.

"Yatagarasu."

Dave understood what that meant.

Rising to his feet, Dave walked back over to where Hermes was floating, and raised his hand at it. Instead of directing it to throw more fire, Dave motioned his hand as if flipping something over.

Hermes faded into blue light and became a card again, floating back down to Dave.

"Yatagarasu!" he shouted. The Fortune image that was on his card changed to the Sun, and when shattered, a different Persona emerged in front of him.

A large, three-legged crow floated in the air in front of Dave. This is what Igor meant when he referred to his multiple Personas. He couldn't control more than one; at least, not at one time. It made sense now.

Dave felt confident with his new Persona floating above him. Shadow Rose, on the other hand, looked enraged. With an inhuman roar, she sent another lightning bolt at Dave, intending to snuff him out permanently.

The bolt reached Dave, but was instantly reflected back at Shadow Rose, striking her with great force.

"Badass!" Dave shouted in delight. John and Jade looked at Yatagarasu in awe, wondering if they too could use multiple Personas. Dave would have to inform them otherwise at a later time.

Rose's shadow rose from the ground and flapped its wings angrily. "Very well! You leave me no choice! Hama!" it shouted, raising one of its lances. The lance shone with a twinkle.

Jade was surrounded by shining pieces of paper, resembling Japanese curse tags. The tags floated for a second and then brightened, catching Jade in a bright flash. She cried out for a moment, then fell to the ground unconscious. Her Persona faded away as she hit the ground.

"Jade!" Dave said, having his Persona send out a blast of fire.

Shadow Rose backed down slightly. John went over to Jade, looking to Dave. "Goad her into throwing another lightning bolt! I think she might take more damage from attacks reflected back at her."

Dave nodded and stood in front of John and Jade, his Persona flying in front of him.

Shadow Rose again threw out a lightning bolt that redirected itself back at her. Dave wondered how much she could take before she realized it was pointless.

With another shriek, Shadow Rose unleashed the attack that she had used on Jade. Dave found himself surrounded by the tags, and braced himself for the flash. He felt himself completely unnafected, however; his change in Personas made him effectively immune to Shadow Rose's attacks.

"Take it out!" Dave shouted, having Yatagarasu fly forward and strike at the shadow with its three talons as Dave charged forward.

Shadow Rose descended as she was assaulted by the crow, and when she was within reach, Dave leapt forward and dug his sword right into her, dragging her down to the floor completely. She dropped her lances and dissipated into smoke, leaving a tired Dave to revel in his tactical victory.

Jade came to shortly after, struggling to her feet. The battle had taken a lot out of her; they would have to be weary of any attacks like that in the future.

Dave looked back towards the throne, where Rose was getting back to her feet and looking at her shadow. She seemed to have calmed down.

"Rose, we don't judge you!" Jade called out. "We understand!"

Rose looked at Jade with a forlorn frown, but nodded. She turned back to her Shadow. "Alright, I'll admit it. I can be a spoiled brat. I can be impossible to deal with when my dealings go sour. I accept that as a part of myself that I hope to diminish. There's no point in being confident about who I am unless I truly accept everything about me. Which includes you... because you are me."

Shadow Rose smiled and faded into a card, and then to a floating robed woman wearing a crown and sporting smaller versions of Shadow Rose's pearlescent wings. Rose announced its name to be 'Isis', and was bathed in a blue glow as it disappeared.

"Ready to leave?" Rose asked, turning to the others wearily. She fell to her knees, but Dave ran over to pick her up and support her.

"Ready when you are." he responded, helping her through the newly formed door to the outside world, followed by John and Jade.

_

The rest of the night passed quickly as the entire group was considerably worn out, and sleep quickly took them as they went to bed.

The following Saturday morning, Rose called them all to the living room table and laid out a deck of cards.

"These are Tarot Cards." Rose said, laying out a few as an example. "Apparently we each correspond to one in the computer world. I am represented by the High Priestess..." she said, flipping over the card of the High Priestess, numbered II.

"Jade, by the Sun..." she continued flipping over the card of the Sun, numbered XIX.

"And John, by the Fool." she said, flipping over the card of the Fool, numbered 0.

"What about me?" Dave asked, reaching for the card of the Fortune, numbered X.

"From what John and Jade told me, you summoned a second Persona during the battle. I was hardly conscious for most of it, but I trust what they say."

"Yeah, I can do that apparently. I have this 'Wild Card' power. I get dreams sometimes, different than what you guys get. I appear in this room, that they call 'The Velvet Room'. It's got this freaky dude with a huge nose, and this blonde chick standing with him. They tell me all about what I can do, but it's all cryptic and shit. I have to sit there and think about it."

Rose tilted her eyebrow. "The 'Wild Card'?"

Dave nodded. "Yeah. Igor says it's the ability to turn 'bonds into power'. Basically if I'm friends with someone that represents a tarot, I can summon a new Persona from that. Like Yatagarasu, he came from the Sun Arcanum or whatever you call it, which is Jade's."

Jade blushed, thankful that she was able to help.

"I think only people who are invited to that room have that power, though." Dave said. "He called me 'one of the first guests in a while' or something. So there must have been people before me."

"Then it's safe to assume that the three of us do not possess the ability." Rose said, taking a sip of her coffee. Dave couldn't help but shake her head; Rose took her coffee black, something which confounded Dave. He could never drink coffee without tons of sugar. No cream though. He wasn't a little girl.

"Dave, I think it's also safe to assume that you will most likely be more powerful than any of us with this ability." Rose continued. "If you can adapt your abilities as the situation demands, then you will have more versatility than any of us."

Dave nodded. "I guess that's pretty useful." he said.

Jade looked up. "I wonder what it's going to be like now that we've all got Personas though. Each time we entered with someone who was new, we ended up in some little world tailored towards them, including me and that forest. If we've all got Personas, where do we go?"

"We should find out." John said. "Maybe they're something like tutorials, and now that everyone's got a Persona, we can enter the main game."

"Except that this isn't a game, Egbert." Dave said.

"It's kinda like one." John replied. "Things have elemental weaknesses, we hit bad guys with blunt or sharp objects, yadda yadda. Sounds like a video game to me."

"In any case, we'll just have to find out when we go in the next time." Rose said. "Now that each of us possesses a Persona, we should be able to combat anything that threatens us. With Dave's Wild Card, we'll be at an even greater advantage."

Dave hated having people depend on him or viewing him as a leader, but it appeared he had no choice. It wasn't like he could just give his power away to one of the others. At least, he didn't think he could.

"Alright. We'll go later tonight though; it's still early." Dave said. "And as much as I hate to admit it, we still have school to worry about. So we should probably limit computer world visits to once a night. We're all exhausted after going in anyway."

Rose nodded. "We'll also have to keep this a secret from the others."

Dave looked at her. "The others?"

"The seniors? Dirk, Jake, Jane, and Roxy? They're all moving in starting next week. Seniors start a week later than we do."

"They should be here tomorrow, actually." John said.

"Then we'll have to do this someplace else. One of our rooms." Jade said.

Dave and John immediately threw their hands up, saying "Not mine" simultaneously.

Rose shook her head. "I'd prefer it not be mine either."

Jade sighed. "Alright, my room. We can do it there."

"Then it's settled. Tonight, we'll head in from here and see if anything's up. Then tomorrow, if we need to go back, we can use Jade's room. We can just say we're studying together or something." Dave said.

"We'll just have to avoid getting caught." John said. "It's kind of exciting!"

Dave nodded with a slight smile. He had no idea that the situation was much larger than they all could have ever realized.


	8. Chapter 8 - The Arcade

Dave awoke the next morning, having barely been able to sleep the previous night out of anticipation. It was 7:48, earlier than he was intending to get up. As he descended down the stairs and entered the living room, it was apparent that the others felt the same. Jade, John, and Rose sat in the living room with their laptops on the table, anxiously awaiting for their 'fearless leader' to join them. Once again he was the last one to rise in the morning.

Taking his place on the sofa next to John, Dave cracked open his laptop. "Okay... We've just gotta take this one step at a time. We don't know what the hell is gonna happen, so first step is to find each other so we don't get our digital asses served to us on fine digital china if we're caught alone."

The group nodded in response.

"Then... we need to find out more about this place. Whatever we can do. See why we're able to go there." Dave continued. "That's all."

"You got it." Jade said, closing all of the open programs on her machine. "Ready?"

"Yeah." Dave responded. "Let's do it."

The first thing Dave noticed upon entering the computer world was that he wasn't face-down on the floor. He was on his own two feet, and when he opened his eyes, he found himself in an area not unlike an arcade. The others were at his side as well, looking around at their surroundings.

A feminine, robotic voice was heard over what sounded like an intercom.

"New user registration confirmed. Dave Strider; Error. Jade Harley; Sun. John Egbert; Fool. Rose Lalonde; High Priestess. Welcome to Asphodel."

Asphodel?

"One part of the Greek Underworld." John said, sensing Dave's confusion. "Tartarus, Asphodel, Elysium. Kind of like Hell, Purgatory, and Heaven."

"So you're telling me we're in the afterlife?"

"It's probably just a name."

Dave shrugged and stepped forward towards a console which showed various names and pixelated characters next to them, not unlike the characters on an old console RPG. Dave was surprised to read the first four names on the list.

"Roxy Lalonde, Moon, Artemis. Dirk Strider, Judgement, Ozymandias. Jane Crocker, Star, Hera. Jake English, Tower, Odysseus." he read aloud, assuming the little pixelated characters were those four people. "Hey, aren't those the seniors that are coming in later today?"

Rose walked over, examining the list. John and Jade were quick to follow. As they studied it, four more names entered the list; Dave Strider, ERROR, ERROR. Jade Harley, Sun, Hypnos. John Egbert, Fool, Perseus. Rose Lalonde, High Priestess, Isis.

"It's a list of us, our arcana, and our Personas..." Rose said. "We weren't the first here, then. The others were here before us; who knows how long they've preceded us?"

"I wonder why we ended up here." Jade said. "Instead of some random world, turning up seperated."

John looked around. "Didn't you hear it earlier, 'new user registration?" he asked. "I think all that business with our shadows and the individual worlds for each of us was some sort of registration for the real thing. Enter the world with someone who's not registered, and they get that. Enter it with a full group of registered users, and you end up here."

"It's like a hub." Dave said, pointing to various doors in the arcade. "Look at those doors and their labels. They're labeled for each of us."

Indeed, the doors were labeled with their names and a short description; Jade Harley, Lonesome Forest. John Egbert, Library of Expectations, Rose Lalonde, Castle of Zazzerpan. There were doors for the other four as well, in addition to a door for Dave. Dave's door was different from the others; excessively padlocked, bound by iron bars, and otherwise excessively secured.

"Well, shit." Dave said, walking up to the door, tugging on one of the padlocks. Wondering if his badass katana could cut some of the chains, Dave gripped his hand and attempted summoning his katana, but to no avail.

Dave looked at his hand, looking at his hand in confusion. "Guys, try using your weapons."

The others tightened their fists, but like Dave, they were unable to summon their weapons.

Jade huffed and concentrated, attempting to summon her Persona. Once again, the attempt was unsuccessful.

Rose looked up at the doors. "I suppose that this area is some sort of neutral zone. I suspect that our powers would only work in the respective worlds through the doors."

"So what are we supposed to do now?" Dave said. There weren't any other doors that didn't lead to worlds that either belonged to the seniors, or belonged to them and had already been explored. "We can go into their places, but I guess they've already cleared out their own shadows if they've got Personas. So is there a point?"

"Perhaps we should ask them." Rose said. "They've had access to to this place longer than we have. I wouldn't be surprised if they knew more."

"Good idea." John said, standing with her. "I'd rather ask them before taking any huge leaps and charging in blindly."

Dave shrugged. "Fine. But we should do something eventually. If they don't know anything, we'll have to figure things out on our own."

"Agreed." Jade said.

Dave turned to the exit, identical to the doors that they had used to exit the other worlds. Shrugging, he walked through to return to their world.

Dave awoke with a start. The others awoke as well. The time was 8:50.

"Jeez, we were out for longer than I thought. Weren't we only in there for a few minutes?" Dave asked.

"Maybe we just didn't notice." John said. "We weren't paying attention in light of all that information."

"I doubt it." Jade said, standing. "Maybe time passes differently in here than out there."

"Anything's possible, right?" John mused, crossing his arms and sitting back against the couch. "So when are they going to get here?"

"Easy, Egbert. Do you really want to ask them right off the bat? I wouldn't be comfortable if a group of people I don't even know started asking me about my recent supernatural adventures. Ease off." Dave objected.

"Dave's right." Rose said. "We will need to work our way to that topic."

John shrugged and sat, already bored from the short wait.

"Well, while we're waiting..." Jade said, looking around nervously. "Dave, can I ask you something?"

"Yeah, what's up?" Dave said.

"Let's... go outside first." she said, nodding to the front door.

Dave shrugged, nodded, and stood up, following her out.

"What's this about, Har?" Dave asked.

"Well... I just wanted to thank you again." Jade said, leaning against a tree that was planted just outside their apartment.

"For what?"

"For... Being here, I guess. It's funny... I had this all played out in my head, but now I can't remember a word I was going to say."

"Being here?" Dave asked. "Moving to Seattle, you mean?"

"Yeah." Jade said, crossing her arms. "We can't exactly choose where we're at when we're young like this, so the kinds of people you go to school can't be chosen either. After meeting you and Rose online, well... People at school really didn't compare. I tried making friends, but it just wasn't the same. I couldn't really... connect with anyone. It's like I was spoiled."

"Of course you were spoiled. You were friends with Dave fucking Strider." Dave responded, leaning against the side of the dorm.

Jade giggled. "See, that's what I'm talking about! You two really are special. And now that you're both here, I feel less out of place. Plus, all this stuff with the Personas and the computers... It isn't all bad if we're in this together."

"Yeah, I couldn't picture doing this alone." Dave admitted. "Whatever it is we're trying to do."

"Hopefully it isn't something too dangerous." Jade said. "We're clueless, and I'd hate for one of us to be hurt. We still don't know what will happen if one of us gets badly injured in there."

"Well, we feel really tired when we get out. I'd prefer not finding out what happens beyond that."

"Agreed." Jade said, looking off into the distance. "Hey, Dave?"

Dave looked at her, awaiting a question.

"Do you think... we could hang out sometime? Just the two of us?"

Dave's eyes widened, though the gesture was hidden behind his shades. He honestly hadn't expected the offer. "Uh... Yeah, sure. I don't see why not."

Jade took a deep breath out of relief, then smiled. "Alright, good. We'll talk more about it later then; look!"

Dave turned his head in the direction that Jade was pointing. A van was approaching down the street towards their apartment.

"Is that them?" Dave asked.

"Must be." Jade said, opening the front door. "Hey, they're here!"

The van parked in the dorm's small parking lot, and out hopped the four seniors. Dave had been a little curious about the identical last names he and Rose shared with Dirk and Roxy, and it was clear that there was a resemblance when he saw them. He had always been told that they had family in Seattle. Perhaps they were distant cousins from each side of the family. It was either that, or a freakish coincidence.

Jake approached and shook Dave's hand. "Dave, right? Jake English. Great to meet you."

Dave nodded. "Yeah. This is Jade, John, and Rose." he said, hesitating to say more and hoping that someone else would take over introduction duty.

John noted Dave's hesitation and took over. "Your rooms are settled and all that's left is for you to move in!"

Dirk nodded, going to hold the door open for the other three. Jake went through first, followed by a somewhat stumbling Roxy. Jane was last, standing on her tip-toes to kiss Dirk on the cheek before heading in.

John leaned over a bit to Jade. "Are they...?"

"I guess so." Jade said, shrugging. After all four seniors entered the building, the juniors followed suit.

Roxy took a seat on one of the loveseats in the living room as her three companions went upstairs to save up the luggage, smiling at the others. "So two of ya are knew, right?"

Dave and Rose nodded.

"How do ya like the place so far?" Roxy asked, leaning forward. She spoke with a hint of a Boston accent, slightly slurred. It was apparent that she had been drinking.

"It's quite lovely." Rose said, sitting across from her. "We're adjusting quite well."

"Good!" Roxy said. "So tell me all about yourself. Where ya from?"

Dave looked to John while Rose occupied Roxy. "Which one should we ask?" he whispered, keeping an eye out for another one of the seniors.

"Dirk looks like the ringleader." John said. "He probably knows the most."

"Roger that." Dave responded.

The seniors had spent a good amount of the day moving their things and setting up their rooms. When they finished, they returned downstairs to the smell of Jade's cooking.

Dave was glad that Jade was at least a little proficient in cooking. It certainly beat any attempt Rose would make; to her great frustration, she was an utter failure as a cook. Dave had to admit the same; back in Texas, his diet mostly consisted of instant noodles and various sandwiches.

Everyone was served a simple meal of rice and gravy. Dave sat with John and picked at his food, awaiting a chance to bring the topic up.

"I think we'll get along smashingly!" Jake said, eating his food eagerly. "I think we've all got things in common."

"Umm... Speaking of which." John said, a hint of nervousness in his voice. "You guys play any computer games?"

Dirk shook his head. "Haven't for a while."

Roxy placed aside her glass, hiccuping slightly. Dave wondered how she got away with alcohol on campus, but it was apparent that she was quite experienced in doing so. "Well, there waaaaas that one game we played in the computer, right? That wa-"

Jane slapped Roxy's knee. "Roxy, hush!"

Rose shook her head. "We know."

Dirk looked over. "You know what?"

"The world inside the computer." Jade said. "We saw your names in the hub arcade. We've all been in there."

Dirk hung his head. "Wow. So we aren't the only ones. Great, now we know even less."

"What do you mean? Don't you know something about it?" Dave asked.

Jake shook his head. "We're completely clueless except for a few things. Roxy was the first to go in, and then she told us all about it."

"Would ya believe that none of them believed me?" Roxy said, another full glass in her hand. Dave swore that he hadn't seen her get up to get another one.

"I do, actually." John said. "It was crazy when Dave told us about it too."

"So, Roxy, does that mean that you have this 'wild card' ability too, since you were the first of your group?" Rose asked, taking down a few notes.

"Wild card?" Roxy asked, confused.

"The ability to summon multiple Personas while in the computer world." Rose clarified. "Just like Dave."

Dirk looked at Dave. "You can what?"

"Like Rose says, I can use different Personas." Dave said. "I just have to be friends with people and I get more of them."

Roxy shook her head. "No, I ain't got that. I just talked it out with my shadow and then poof!"

"She accepted her shadow immediately." Jane clarified. "Unlike the rest of us. She was there each time to save us."

"So you all don't know anything about why the computer world exists either?" Jade asked, sighing.

"No." Dirk responded. "It exists and we've all been in it to get our Personas. As if it's like a test or something. There's only been that arcade room every time we've gone in after our first times. You can go to any of the previous worlds, but the only things in there are the normal shadows. Not the special ones like our own. Since you guys saw our names in there, I guess you saw the doors to our worlds too."

"Yeah." Dave responded. "With ours too. Except for mine. I never had one. The door that leads to what's supposed to be mine is deadbolted and locked."

"Never had one?" Jake asked. "How did you get your Persona in the first place then?"

"It was just kinda given to me." Dave said. "I didn't have a test like the rest of you."

"Then maybe you're the key we've been looking for to progress further." Jane said. "It's been a few months since we first entered the world. Roxy had heard a rumor and decided to try it when she was bored, and then got us into it. We visited quite a few times but nothing was ever different. Maybe we'll find some way to get through your locked door."

"It'll be a wait-and-see thing." Dirk said. "We'll check on it every few days for any sort of change."

"Good." John said. "Maybe things can be normal for a while, until we get some news of a change in there. Sorry to spring this up all of a sudden."

"It's cool." Roxy said, placing her empty glass aside. "Now we have something special in common! We get to work together!"

Jade nodded. "I have a feeling that we'll all get along just fine."

After dinner, the the eight of them split up to their individual rooms. Monday was tomorrow, which to Dave meant another chance to find Gamzee.


	9. Chapter 9 - Purely Theoretical

Dave sat next to John in History, hoping for a fast end to the day so he could once again search for Gamzee. Mr. Withers went through roll-call as he did in the beginning of each class.

There was indeed an empty desk, but Dave wasn't sure who it belonged to.

"Jade Harley."

Jade was indeed there and raised her hand to indicate as such, sitting right behind Dave. Though they couldn't talk in class; Dave and John weren't willing to risk another grueling detention period again; Jade often messed with Dave when she was bored. Drawing on the back of his seat, poking him with the eraser of her pencil, and other small things. Dave didn't mind as long as she wasn't too bothersome; everyone was bored when Mr. Withers was in charge, and he understood that whatever she could do to help alleviate the boredom was a necessity to stay awake.

John blanked out for a while until a certain name caught his attention when it was called; "Vriska Serket".

Blushing, John turned his head to the right, looking over to the back of the class where Vriska usually sat. Her desk was empty.

It wasn't an odd occurence. Vriska often skipped class whenever she felt like it, yet managed to achieve top marks on tests and exams like it wasn't even a challenge to her when she was present. Something seemed wrong to John though. He couldn't quite place his finger on what it was, but an odd feeling nagged at him.

Withers rolled his eyes and wrote down Vriska as absent. He knew she wouldn't miss enough class to be expelled, but it frustrated him to have a student manipulate the system so.

Dave, on the other hand, had mastered the art of pretending to be awake in class. Because he wasn't allowed to wear his shades in class (which he had decreed to be a complete and utter travesty and an infringement on his freedom of expression), he resorted to brushing his hair over his eyes and sitting back in his chair, nodding off while Withers lectured.

The class passed quickly. Dave awoke with the bell, and drowsily brought himself to his feet and out of the door.

Dave scannned the crowd at lunch, set on his goal of locating Gamzee. John had left to go grab some food, while Dave insisted he wasn't hungry. It was a lie, of course. He was pretty much starving, but force of his curiousity drove him to keep searching.

Spotting the frizzy head of unkempt hair that belonged to Gamzee, Dave quickly began pursuing his elusive target. He wasn't going to get away this time.

When he caught up to him, Dave saw that Gamzee was accompanied by Karkat, as usual. What he had to say was for Gamzee only; he'd have to get him alone, or remain vague in his words.

"Hey, Gamzee!" Dave called.

Gamzee turned around. Finally, he had acknowledged Dave for the first damn time since the plane trip. "Sup, stranger bro?"

"Stranger?" Dave said, crossing his arms. "Don't you recognize me?"

"Nah." Gamzee said, shaking his head. Karkat looked at Dave as well, raising an eyebrow.

"We were on the plane to Seattle? You were sitting right behind me."

"Plane? Ain't been on a motherfuckin' plane in my life, bro."

Dave couldn't tell if Gamzee was lying or sincerely clueless. His expectations of getting all of Gamzee's information on the Computer World were shattered. "I... I saw you on the plane. You told me about a code. Some urban legend thing. You called it the Gateway Code."

Gamzee shrugged. "Bro, I've never seen you before in my damn life. You're either on some good shit or you're thinkin' of someone else."

Dave sighed, rubbing his brow. "Yeah, maybe you're right. Sorry about that." he said, defeated. He wasn't going to get anything out of Gamzee. "Sorry, we kinda got off on the wrong foot. Dave Strider."

"Gamzee Makara." replied Gamzee, shaking Dave's hand. "This here's-"

"Karkat. I know him already." Dave interrupted, waving a hand at Karkat.

Karkat nodded, averting his eyes to his hands. He seemed worried, distracted even.

"Sorry, bro. Karkat here's just a little bummed that one of our friends ain't doin' too good."

Dave tilted his head. "You mean Vriska, right? She wasn't here today."

"Yeah." Gamzee said. "Went to sleep the other night, hasn't woke up since. She's in some kinda coma. Fuckin' sucks, but there ain't nothin' none of us can do for her. She's in the hospital right now."

"Shit." Dave said, knowing that John would want to hear about that. John's crush on Vriska was hardly a secret, but it was rarely brought up. "Sorry to hear that, but... I'd better go. I'll talk to you guys some other time."

"Coo." Gamzee said, nodding at Dave before turning around and walking away.

"Well. That was a waste of time." Dave muttered to himself as he approached John and the others at their usual table.

"Hi, Dave!" Jade exclaimed, smiling. "Did you finally get to talk to him?"

"Yeah, I did. He claims he doesn't have any clue about what I was talking about." Dave replied. "I would've said 'fuck it, it was just a dream' at this point, but there's no way he was a dream. He was there. He has something to do with this. There's no doubt in my mind."

John shrugged his shoulders. "Maybe we'll see him in the computer world sometime. If he's the one who gave you the code, he might know how it works. I can't imagine why he'd tell anyone without having trying it first."

"Maybe this is some sort of plan." Dave said. "Maybe he's trying to get people into the computer world for some reason. Maybe he knew that if he told me, I'd tell my friends. More people would be in on it."

"That's a damning accusation, Dave." Rose said, looking up from her book. "But it's something we need to consider. If Gamzee is lying, then we shall have to maintain a constant vigil and look for any changes in the computer world."

"We should check tonight." John said. "There's something bothering me. I just want to go in and give it a look."

"Alright." Dave replied in agreement. "Oh. Gamzee says that Vriska's in the hospital. She's in a coma."

John looked up alarmingly, as did Jade and Rose. "A coma? She seemed fine the other day."

Rose closed her book and looked down, contemplating thoughts in her head. Dave nodded to John. "That's what Gamzee said. He didn't say why, just that she's not doing well."

"You don't think that this has something to do with the computer world, does it?" Jade asked.

"What gave you that idea?" Dave asked, confused as to how that was related to Vriska's condition.

"Wait." Rose said, looking up. "Jade may be on to something."

"What do you mean?" John said, a worried look on his face.

"Each time we enter the computer, we lose consciousness, correct?"

"Right." Dave responded.

"Vriska and Gamzee are both part of the foreign exchange students that John and Jade said arrived here years ago. If Gamzee knows of the code, there's no reason that he wouldn't be capable of relaying it to others just as he did with Dave." Rose continued. "Assuming that Gamzee is indeed attempting to get people involved with the computer world; for whatever his agenda compels him to do so; he may have gotten Vriska to use the code. Perhaps she is trapped, without anyone to defeat her shadow for her. If this is indeed Gamzee's goal then it would make sense for him to not tell Dave anything about it."

"So if we don't go in there and defeat her shadow, she might get killed in there?" Dave asked.

"This is all purely theoretical, but that is a logical assumption, yes. I shudder to think what might happen if someone is killed in that world. It seems as though our consciousness dives into the computer world while our physical bodies are left behind; it might not be beyond reason to assume that if someone dies in the computer world, then their consciousness is eradicated and they will never wake up in the real world."

"Then we have to go in tonight and check to see if she's in there. Then we save her if she is." John said. "This is all a guess, yeah, but it seems too good of a theory to not be true. Call it a hunch."

"Then it's settled." Jade said. "We should ask the seniors to come with us."

"I agree." Rose said. "We'll stand a better chance against anything we find if there are more of us around."

"We can talk about it more when we get back at the end of the day." Dave concluded. "We'll see about all this then."

The day passed by slowly; agonizingly so now that Dave had something to look forward to by the end of it. When the final bell rang, he made for the door without waiting for the others and headed straight back to the dorm.

When he arrived, he was indeed the only person there. It would only be a short time before the others arrived, however, so he decided to set himself up with his laptop at his usual spot around the coffee table.

Upon opening his laptop, Dave heard an odd sound not unlike an instant messenger notification sound. It wasn't his pesterchum alert, however. It was something different.

He looked down at the bottom-right side of his screen and saw a window of text open. It reminded him of the command prompt windows that opened when you ran a file from the computer's operating system. It wasn't something he was familiar with, but he knew that John dabbled in such things. The window had one line of text.

"Unregistered User in Asphodel awaiting registration."

"Shit." Dave muttered. There really was someone in the computer. From what he remembered of John's guess in the arcade, 'registration' was the process where a person was confronted by their shadow. They would have to act fast. In the past they had always entered the computer world at the same time as any unregistered person and were able to get to them relatively quickly. There was no telling how long this person had been inside the world; if it was indeed Vriska as they had hypothesized during lunch, then it couldn't have been more than a day. Adding that to the fact that time seemed to pass at a different rate inside the computer, Dave was at least hopeful that there was still time to act.

It occurred to Dave how odd it was that the computer world apparently had its' own messaging software, but he was thankful for it at the moment.

Jade, John, and Rose entered the dorm not long after Dave had seen the command prompt.

"We need to get in there quick." Dave announced. "There's definitely someone in there." he added, showing the others the message he received.

"I guess we can't wait for the seniors." Jade said. "Whoever's in there is probably living on borrowed time as is. Let's go."

John and Rose both nodded and ran upstairs to grab their laptops, and then joined Dave and Jade (whose laptops were already at the coffee table).

"Alright. Let's do this." Dave exclaimed, inputting the Gateway Code and then losing consciousness along with the rest of the group.


	10. Chapter 10 - Rescue

In the blink of an eye, Dave found himself standing with his friends in Asphodel.

"Aren't we supposed to wind up in the world holding the unregistered person?" John asked, looking around.

"Maybe that only applies if we go in at the same time as them. Who knows how long Vriska's been in here." Jade answered, stepping towards a door that wasn't in the arcade before.

"We don't know that it's Vriska yet." John said, looking in another direction for any clues.

"Yes we do." Dave said, pointing to the small bar-screen above the new door, which plainly read 'Vriska Serket: Prison of Manipulation'.

"Dammit." John muttered, approaching the door. "Then we need to get going."

Dave nodded and motioned for him to open the door. John complied and stepped through. Dave followed, as did Jade and Rose.

The term 'Prison' was quite appropriate. Before them was a dimly-lit prison hall, lined with the rusty bars of abandoned prison cells and decorated with eerie cobwebs.

"Looks like something straight out of a cheap horror film." John observed, summoning his hammer. Rose followed suit, and two abnormally sized sewing needles appeared in her hands. Though they looked impractical, they were likely sharp enough to be used as daggers.

"That'll work." Dave commented, swishing his katana around. "Let's get going."

The sound of metal bending rang from deeper in the prison, and was followed by a few metal bars being tossed into a wall not far from the kids' location. From beyond a newly-formed hole in the wall, a shadow that resembled a detached glove crawled towards the group.

Almost simultaneously, the four kids summoned their respective Persona cards. Dave called on his newest social link; that of The Strength; to see what sort of Persona it would grant him.

"Titan!" he shouted, the name coming to him subconsciously. The ability still seemed strange to him when he thought about it, but when put into practice, he took to it like it was second nature to him. Perhaps it was.

Dave slashed his card, and fading into its' place was a large, extremely muscular man outfitted in Roman centurion armor and wielding a massive sword. It was not unlike John's shadow self, albeit a few heads taller.

The hand-shadow 'stood' in a sense, using its finger appendages to pace back and forth erratically in front of the group. It seemed completely undaunted by the force the kids presented with their myriad of Personas.

John was the first to break the initial ceasefire, having Perseus charge forward to slam into the hand. The attack made contact and the hand went up in smoke like all shadows did when defeated; however, Dave spied two figures leaping out of the smoke.

"It split in two!" Jade shouted observantly, taking aim and firing at one of the new hands with her rifle. The new hand went up in smoke and did not split.

Dave took the cue and had Titan slam his sword into the remaining hand. The hand attempted to dodge but was struck, splitting into two smaller hands like the initial shadow.

"Oh, come on!" Dave groaned as Titan stood back up from the attack. As powerful as he was, Titan's swings and recoveries were slow.

Rose stepped up next. "Here, an easy solution!" she said, lifting one of her needles. Iris responded by lifting a hand and beating her pearlescent wings.

The two hands were suddenly surrounded by curse tags; Dave recognized them as the spell that had taken Jade out during the fight with Rose's shadow; Shadow Rose's spell only encompassed Jade and not the entire party, however.

The tags glowed and emitted a flash; when the light faded, the two hand shadows were gone. "A simple matter of destroying them simultaneously." clarified Rose, twirling around her needles with a smile.

"Nice." John said, lowering his hammer. "We'll let you handle any of them, then. I don't think I can make Perseus hit more than one thing at a time."

"Me and Hypnos can't either." Jade said, reloading her rifle. Dave wondered if it came with bullets when she conjured it. "We should move on."

Dave nodded and took point, venturing further into the prison with his friends. Their Personas followed in back of them, making not a sound. The group passed through the hole in the wall and came across a large door labeled with the words 'Solitary Confinement'.

"This must be it." Dave said, approaching the door and opening it.

The room beyond the door was almost completely dark, save for a light that shined on a girl in the middle of the room. The complete blackness that surrounded her made it hard to judge just how large the room was.

"Vriska?" John called, stepping into the room. He could easily recognize that it was her, but there was something odd about her. The biggest difference from her normal appearance was the fact that she had two horns sprouting from her head, one of them resembling a stinger and the other resembling an insect's claw. Her skin was also a pale grey as opposed to her normally fair skin.

Vriska looked up at the sound of John's voice. "John?" she called out, standing. "What's going on? Where's Gamzee?"

Dave walked in next after John. "Gamzee? What does he have to do with this?" he asked, surprised that their earlier guesses of Gamzee's involvement may have been correct.

"That asshole is the reason I'm in here!" Vriska stated angrily, looking at their group. "He did something to my head... made me type in some code into my computer. Now I'm stuck in here with that other version of myself and I've got these weird things..." she continued, touching the horns on her head. "I just want out!"

"But you can't leave." echoed a distorted version of Vriska's voice. "No one would be waiting for you on the outside anyway."

Vriska's eyes widened with a look of terror and she whirled her head around, looking for the source of the voice. "I already told you, leave me alone!"

"You think words will do me in? You think you can control me?"

Another Vriska, obviously her shadow self, crept into view from beyond the vast darkness in the room. "You think that you can just manipulate me like all the others, don't you? Telling me to go away will make it all better, right?" She mocked, chuckling lightly as she saw the real Vriska's face.

Vriska stood in silence, slightly trembling.

"No one likes you. You know that, right? Being a huge bitch to people to get what you want only works so much until they all get fed up with your bullshit. You end up with no friends acting like that. But you can't stop. You love the feeling of being in control. You catch them like flies in a spider's web, and toy with them until they can escape."

Vriska fell to her knees, shuddering even more.

"But your web is getting weaker. It's getting smaller, more brittle. Flies just buzz on past it. They know you. They know your nature. You go right around and blame them for how they avoid you, but you know deep down that it's your 're the bitch no one wants to be around because they know they'll be hurt. In your quest to make people like you; whether they want to or not; you're really just pushing them away."

"Stop!" Vriska shrieked. "Shut up! What do you know?"

"What DO I know?" Shadow Vriska asked, stepping around Vriska and softly stroking her hair. "I know all about you." she muttered softly, kneeling down to Vriska and looking her in the eyes. "I know everything there is to know about you. Because I am you."

Dave sighed. "Dammit, here it comes. We really need to attack before these shadows give their creepy speeches next time."

Rose shook her head. "It's good for a person to hear the things they repress from themselves. It helps them come to terms with who they are. You would be amazed as to how much more comfortable being one's self can be when they understand their entire psyche."

John and Jade nodded their heads. Dave often forgot the gravity of the situations that the others had to go through to get their Personas; in a way, he felt a little excluded. He wondered what his own shadow would tell him, had he had one.

"Go to hell! You're not me!" Vriska shouted, standing up and taking a swing at her shadow. Her shadow grinned and dissipated, re-appearing a few feet above in the air. Vriska looked on with tear-stained eyes,

"And there it is!" Shadow Vriska shouted, engulfing herself in the reddish-black smoke that was characteristic of the stronger shadows. The ball of smoke grew larger while Shadow Vriska cackled maniacally.

The group readied their weapons as the smoke faded from view, leaving behind a huge spider-like shadow Vriska that hung from the ceiling. She retained her horns and grey skin, while her face seemed mostly intact save for her one of her glasses lens being replaced by a fleshy eye patch with several glowing 'eyes 'adorning it. Her legs were quite angular and ended in blades at the joints and at the ends. The darkness faded from the room, revealing rusted metal walls completely coated in spider webs and various unreadable phrases written with black paint.

"I am a Shadow. The true self!" bellowed Shadow Vriska, crawling across the ceiling. "A web is both a prison for the hunter and the hunted! Just try and escape from mine!"

"Don't mind if I do!" John shouted, readying his hammer as Shadow Vriska dropped from the ceiling, hitting the ground with a loud thud just behind Vriska.

Vriska backed away but wasn't quick enough, her shadow gripping her with the un-bladed parts of her legs and quickly spinning a web around her. Vriska struggled despite being caught in the web cocoon, which Shadow Vriska attached to the ceiling.

John charged forward alongside Perseus and swung his hammer at Shadow Vriska's leg. Perseus readied itself to conjure up fierce winds in conjunction with John's assault.

"Is that all?" Shadow Vriska taunted, swinging her leg at John and knocking him away. The hit broke John's concentration, causing Perseus to lose its spell as it fell back.

"No heroics, Egbert!" Dave shouted, having Titan approach the shadow.

Shadow Vriska grinned and wove a web at Titan's feet from a distance, stopping its' advance completely. "I'm not even trying!" she shouted mockingly.

Dave groaned and concentrated, summoning Yatagarasu in place of Titan. Titan faded from view, leaving behind the webs that the Shadow have woven, and gave way to the three-legged crow Yatagarasu.

As Yatagarasu dove and weaved around the balls of web that the Shadow shot at it, Rose commanded Iris to fire bolts of lightning at the Shadow, causing temporary distraction.

Shadow Vriska roared in annoyance, approaching the group. Her every step with her bladed legs pierced the ground, shaking the room. Once in range, she began a barrage of slices with her two front legs.

Jade, Rose, and John's Personas swarmed in front of the group and blocked the onslaught as well as they could, though the hits taken by the Personas were felt by the kids as well.

Shadow Vriska suddenly roared as Dave dug his katana into her thorax, spilling blue blood onto the floor. Vriska rolled over, throwing Dave away into the wall.

The other three were able to rest for a moment as they recovered from Shadow Vriska's frenzied attack, with Jade speeding the process by curing each of the others with a spell from Hypnos.

Dave attempted to pull away from the wall, but found himself stuck in the webs. "Shit! Stuck! Stuck!" he shouted, unable to command his Persona well with his arms restrained. Yatagarasu flew around eratically while Dave struggled against his restraints, eventually running into the wall as well and becoming caught up in the web.

John, whose Persona was hardier than Rose or Jade's, stood ready to strike as Perseus once again readied a casting of a wind spell. Shadow Vriska angrily drove her bladed leg at John, who leaped out of the way. The Shadow's leg was stuck in the ground after striking it with such first, a situation that Perseus took advantage of by blowing a full-force wind at Shadow Vriska.

The Shadow was blown away, slamming into the ground not far from the group. "Wind must be her weakness!" Rose said, looking to John.

John nodded and looked up, noticing that his wind spell had blown away some of the webs lining the walls, freeing Dave, Yatagarasu, and knocking the cocoon that contained Vriska from the ceiling.

"Perseus!" he shouted, having his Persona conjure up another gust of wind in the center of the room.

The wind blew away the webs coating Vriska, who gasped at air once her mouth was freed from the cocoon. Shadow Vriska struggled to regain her balance but was unable to fight the oppresing winds that Perseus was creating.

John approached with his hammer, looking Shadow Vriska in the eyes.

"Lights out." he muttered, raising his hammer in the air and slamming it down on the downed Shadow's head, splattering blue blood across the floor. Dave tried his best to not laugh at the terrible one-liner.

Shadow Vriska dissipated into smoke and regained her former form of a Vriska clone, her head once again intact even though John had split her earlier one like a watermelon.

Vriska sighed and got up from the ground, weakly approaching the shadow. "You haven't had enough?" she asked, putting her arm around John's shoulder to support herself.

"Vriska, it's just going to attack again if you don't accept it." John told her, looking at her. Dave, Jade and Rose approached the two from behind, ready to act should Shadow Vriska attack once again. "Don't worry, we'd understand. We had to go through this too."

Vriska shook her head. "I... guess I don't have a choice. But she was right. She really was. She read me like a book."

Shadow Vriska looked down at the ground like a dog that had done something wrong.

"You're completely right. I'm a huge bitch." Vriska said, looking at her Shadow. "And people are always going to see me as a massive bitch. It's who I am. But I can accept that it's what's holding me back. Maybe that will help me change. You knew me, you knew what was wrong. You really are me."

The Shadow looked back up with a smile and faded away, being replaced by a tarot card marked with the number 9.

"The Hermit." Rose clarified. Dave was ever-grateful of her being able to make sense of the occult parts of the computer world; otherwise he'd be completely clueless.

The card then faded into a blue light, that bathed Vriska's persona; a bare-chested woman whose long blue hair fell down to cover her breasts. He lower body was that of a spider with a blue astrological symbol for 'Scorpio' adorning the abdomen.

"Arachne." Vriska muttered, her eyes closing as Arachne faded. After the blue light faded from her body, Vriska collapsed. John was able to catch her before she hit the ground.

"She must be exhausted." Jade said, feeling her forehead. "We need to get her out of here."

"Right." John said, looking down at the faint Vriska with a blush in his cheeks. He picked her up and took her through the newly formed door to exit the computer world, followed by the others.

The four of them woke up in the middle of the living room where they had been when they entered the computer world. The seniors stood around the living room on their computers as well, though they were awake.

"We were going to go in after you guys, but Asphodel wouldn't let us!" Jake said. "It said something about a player limit."

"Apparently each world can only hold four players at a time." Dirk said. "What were you guys doing in there? The new door wouldn't let us through while you four were in it. Who's 'Vriska'?"

The four juniors, primarily Rose, explained the situation to the seniors.

"So this Gamzee fella mind-controlled her or somethin'?" Roxy asked, sitting back in her armchair.

"That's what we're guessing." Dave said. "I guess she woke up in her dorm. It's not our physical bodies that dive into the computer after all. We're gonna talk to her tomorrow and see how many beans she can spill."

"Easy, though." John mentioned. "She's been through a lot. She was in there longer than the rest of us."

"True." Dave said. "Then it's decided. Egbert will be her knight in shining armor and will take on the heavy burder of talking to her."

"What?" John exclaimed, looking at him.

"Look, you were the one who smashed her Shadow's head in. If that doesn't designate you as the diplomat in this situation, I don't know what will." Dave replied, crossing his arms. "It's a great way to start a conversation. 'Wow, your face looks great when it's not smeared against the floor'."

Jade punched Dave on the arm. "Dave, quit it."

Dave looked at her with a hurt expression, but stopped with the teasing like she asked. "Seriously though, I think you should talk to her. She knows you best out of all of us. Ask her about the Gamzee situation. Let her know that you get what's up with her."

"Alright." John said, blushing. "Tomorrow then."

"Tomorrow." Dave repeated, looking to the stairs. "I'm beat. See you guys later."

"Same." Rose said, standing and heading to the stairs.

Jade patted John's shoulder as she followed. The seniors dispersed to get up to their own activities, having not been exhausted by a trip to the computer world.

Sighing, John stood and retired to his room as well.


	11. Chapter 11 - Nighttime Antics

The next day passed rather quickly for John. After the strenuous fight that had taken place the previous night, sitting around in a school desk for a few hours was a welcome change in pace. His heart quickened when the bell for lunch rang, however. Talking to Vriska about anything serious was something he could barely do in the first place. He was always convinced that he sounded like an utter idiot most of the time, so why not act the clown when his serious-talk skill was lacking? He had at least made her laugh a few times. He wasn't sure if it was at him or with him, but putting a smile on her face was enough.

When he located her at lunch, he saw that she crouched against a wall with her head against her knees, in stark contrast to her normal proud posture with her head held high and her legs crossed. The things that her shadow said to her must have truly got to her, more so than himself and the others.

Taking a deep breath, John walked over to Vriska and sat next to her against the wall, crossing his legs and fumbling with his hands. John noticed that she was now hornless, and her skin had once again returned to its original fair tone

"Hey." he said after wondering how he could start the conversation for a few moments.

Vriska sighed, not lifting her head. "Hi, John."

"Sorry about what happened last night." John muttered quietly. If anyone had heard that, he could only fear how badly it would be misinterpreted. "You know, with the shitty one-liner and the hammer smash."

Vriska shook a little; not from tears, but from slight laughter. "Shit, John." she said, looking up from her knees."I'm not mad about that. You didn't do anything wrong. None of your friends did. If you wouldn't have come by then I probably would gotten killed. I had resisted her for a long time, but... she broke through at the end."

"We're not going to judge you, you know." John said. "It was pretty bad for us too. Whatever those shadows are, they know how to get under our skin."

"So Gamzee threw all of you in too?" Vriska asked.

"No." John answered. "Dave was the first to go in. Gamzee told him the code and he did it himself. He wasn't mind controlled or anything like you said. When he told Jade about it, she believed him right away and tried the code out too. But instead of getting her Persona right away like Dave, she had to face her shadow. So did the rest of us. Dave's special. None of us know why, but he got a free pass and he gets more Personas than the rest of us. We've been thinking about why that's so, but we just don't know. The weird thing is that Gamzee got to him before they even got to the school. It was on a plane."

"Gamzee's a slippery son of a bitch. I wouldn't put it past him." Vriska stated. "I would have never thought he would be into all this supernatural stuff but he was always a little reclusive. Not even Karkat knew much about him and they were best friends. How he got to that plane, though, I have no idea. He used to lock himself in his room to smoke for hours at a time but he'd walk right out after he was done."

"Maybe you can ask him tonight?" John asked. "He might respond more to someone he knows."

"Then you don't know?" Vriska asked. "He's not here. He's gone."

John's eyes widened. "Gone?"

"Yeah. Today we went to wake him up like we do every morning and he didn't answer. So we went inside and he was just gone. His room was left like he had never left. We were just down one Gamzee." Vriska confided, stretching her legs.

"Well." John muttered. "That isn't good."

"You're telling me. I have no clue what he's up to, but he might take another one of us and send us into that world. And if he does, I'll catch him in the act and kick his ass for what he did to me."

"Not to save your friends?" John asked.

"Well, they wouldn't run to save me if they had the chance." Vriska retorted, a little venomously.

"You don't know that." John said.

"Please, John, spare me the sentiments. You heard what my shadow said and it was all true." Vriska replied, slumping further against the wall. "She said everything that I didn't want to tell myself. You know why I act like such a bitch, John?"

John didn't want to say she wasn't a bitch, because he knew she'd just assure him that she was. Really, no matter what he told himself to justify his attraction to her, she really was a bitch sometimes. Silently, he shook his head.

"It's because I can't stand failing." Vriska said. "I need to be in control of how my life is going. And I like to be number one. Always on top. I feel that when there are more people below me, then there are less people that can tell me what to do with my life. I can't stand being manipulated... so I go right ahead and manipulate others. Survival of the fittest, right? The others must hate my guts."

John bravely put a hand on her shoulder. "The shadow did say you were a bitch, and if you say she was right, then she was right. But she didn't say anything about your friends, right? They know how they feel about you. You can ask them, maybe confide in them."

Vriska sighed, unsure.

"And hey, if that doesn't work, then... I can use another friend." he added, looking away nervously.

Vriska smiled. "John, you dork." she said, pushing him jokingly. "Of course we can be friends. I mean, I guess I owe you for splattering my other self across the floor, right?"

John nodded, smiling eagerly. It wasn't a marriage proposal or anything, but it was a good start. "Alright. I'll go tell the others about what you said. Can I, uh, call you sometime?"

"Sure." Vriska said, shrugging as if it weren't a big deal but winking afterwards. Girls confused John. She hastily scrawled her number onto a slip of paper and handed it to John. John took it and smiled as he read the text.

'Don't 8e a stranger! :::;)

818-1337

-Vriska'

"Alright." he said, looking at her. "You sure you'll be alright?"

"Yeah." Vriska responded with a nod. "I've just got a lot to think about."

The last bell of the day rang a few hours later, and John walked back to the dorm with Dave.

"So? Give me scoop. How soon are we gonna have to sound-proof your room, Casanova?" Dave teased.

"Shut up, Dave." John responded. "She gave us some good info. And she'd be willing to come by and talk to us about it whenever we want. She wants to get back at Gamzee."

"Don't blame her. Think he'll strike again?"

"Probably." John said. "He'd be a pretty shitty bad guy if he stopped after his first attempt, right?"

Dave smirked. "Yeah, true. The villains never stay in their cell for more than one comic. You think they'd have learned to build some titanium alloy shit around the Joker's cell by now, right?"

John laughed. "Knowing how plot devices work, he would just pull some titanium-melting-ray out of his pocket and make his daring escape. Again."

"I wonder how many bottles of stress pills Batman goes through in a week." Dave joked.

Jade, who was standing outside the door of the dorm, waved to the pair as they approached. "Hi guys! Me and Rose wanted to go somewhere and we wanted to know if you two wanted to come too."

"Go where?" Dave asked. "What's there to do in August, the worst month of them all? There's jack shit to do. It's like, National Goat Cheese month, but that's it. No festivals or holidays or anything. Not to mention it cooks like an oven when the sun's out."

Jade shook her head, smirking oh so slightly. "Nothing so fancy, dummy. We just wanted to go eat somewhere."

"Oh, cool." Dave responded. "Sure, let's do it."

"Mind if I invite Vriska?" John asked, holding up his phone. "I could tell all of you what she told me, but I think it'd be better if she told you herself."

"Sure, why not?" Jade said, shrugging. "She'd have to pay for herself though."

"Gotcha." John said, relaying the message to Vriska via text.

The group met Vriska at the on-campus Chinese restaurant an hour later.

"Hey, guys." Vriska said, waving. "Listen, thanks again for helping me. I didn't deserve that, but I'd be dead if it weren't for you guys."

Jade shook her head. "It was the right thing to do! Don't worry about it."

"'sides, we would have been stuck on square one if you hadn't gotten kidnapped." Dave said. "Silver lining, you know? Now we know a bit more about that computer place."

"Gee, thanks." Vriska replied with a smirk. "Let's go inside."

John jogged over and held the door open for them,

Minutes later, the group had situated in a booth with their food. Dave and John sat on one side while the three girls sat on the other.

"So, what do we know?" John asked, lightly picking at his noodles.

Dave looked up from his bowl of soup. "Gamzee's probably the one behind this. Every time someone new gets put in, a new door gets added, meaning a new world can be explored and checked out. Mine's still locked. Basically, we still really don't know shit."

Jade looked to Vriska. "Who's closest to Gamzee, Vriska?" she asked.

Vriska placed her fork down on the table. "Well, Karkat's his best friend, but Terezi... Well, they didn't much care for one another, but that didn't stop them from going at it like animals for a while."

"Really?" John asked, his eyebrow raised.

"Yeah. Those two would keep us up for hours." she said with a sigh, rubbing her temples as she recalled many sleepless nights. "It made Karkat real mad because he had just broken up with her... But eventually he and Gamzee started acting like best buds again, and Terezi stopped going to his room at night. She doesn't talk about it much."

"You talk to her a lot?" Dave asked.

"She's my best friend." Vriska replied. "Which basically means I was less of a bitch to her than most people. Still, we talk about a lot things. But never her and her thing with Gamzee. I just wrote it off as her just needing a bit of relief from sexual frustration or something. Guess it's easier for her since she can't see those stupid faces he probably makes."

"What do you mean?" Dave asked.

"Terezi's blind." John replied. "Been so since they got here."

"She's got great senses otherwise and she uses a cane to help her get around. She copes well and most people can't even tell." Vriska continued. "But yeah, Gamzee and her aren't a thing anymore and she doesn't like talking about him, so I think it might be better to just ask Karkat."

"Noted." Dave said, returning to his soup.

"What do you make of this, Rose?" John asked, looking over to her. Rose had been uncharacteristically quiet the entire time that they were at the restaurant.

Rose shrugged. "I think you've all established a good thesis. I will simply follow along whatever course we decide to plot."

"I want to be sure Gamzee's the one doing it." Dave said, cutting off John before he could ask if Rose was okay. "He's probably going to go for it again like Vriska says, but... there's really not much we can do unless something happens."

"Dave's right." Jade said. "We can't do anything in the computer unless someone new gets put in there. And we can't put anyone in ourselves. I guess we could tell more people about the code, but how long would it take for someone to start spreading news of that around? How many people can we rescue in there in a single day?"

"Are you suggesting that we let Gamzee throw more people in there?" Vriska asked, her voice showing mild irritation.

"Is there anything we can do to stop him?" Dave asked. "We have no idea where he is."

"I have to agree with Dave." John said. "It's not like we can camp out and wait for him to get someone to use the code. You said he mind-controlled you to do it; who knows how far of a distance he can do that over?"

Vriska sighed. "He was right next to me when he did it to me. It was about midnight and I was up on my computer because I wasn't able to sleep. He opened my door and walked in... I was about to nail him in the face with something blunt but I couldn't move. I just typed out the code and passed out. Then you guys saved me, and I woke up the next night. Everyone was about to get me to the hospital when I woke up. I just told them I skipped out on class and slept in for a while... I do it often so they bought it."

"Still. We only have one instance of this happening." Jade said. "So we can't really assume anything."

Vriska sighed again. "Alright. We let Gamzee strike again. Hope he takes someone with a more stable mind than me."

"Indeed. Hopefully." Rose muttered, almost spitefully. Vriska eyed her, but let the comment slide. Were Jade not between the two of them, Vriska might have reacted a little more violently. Dave and John simply raised their eyebrows and stayed silent. They knew better than to not shut up when something like that was said.

"Well!" Jade said, breaking the tension. "Enough talk about the computer, yeah? We came here to have fun!"

John nodded. "Right! Maybe we should make plans for some other time too."

"There's always a public event on campus for Labor day each year." Jade said. "It's just a little get-together for all the students, with a bit of music and food. Maybe we can go to that?"

"Sounds alright to me." Dave said. "Maybe I could work the tables for that."

"Oooooooooorr you can hang out with someone for it." Jade said as she leaned forward, obviously hinting at something.

"Yeah, maybe." Dave replied, oblivious to whatever Jade was getting at.

Jade made a slight pouty face and sat back in her seat.

Vriska looked at John, grinning. "You wouldn't happen to have to work the turntable for that, hm?"

John shook his head. "No?"

"Feel like going together, then?" she asked, twiddling her fingers.

"Oh!" John exclaimed, blushing a bit. "Yeah, sure thing!"

"Good. We'll talk about it later." Vriska replied, winking at him again.

Rose stood from her seat. "I'm still feeling a little fatigued from our escapades in the computer... I think I shall return to the dorm for tonight."

"You sure?" John asked.

"Yes, John, I'm sure." Rose said, gathering her things and making her way out of the restaurant.

Jade sighed with a worried look on her face. "I'll catch you guys later!" she said, getting up and going after Rose.

Dave shook his head. "Oh boy. I'm out." he announced, taking his leave as well.

"Dave, wait!" Vriska called, looking at him. "If you ever need extra help in the computer world, I'm ready to go and kick some shadow ass whenever you need me. John's got my number."

"Got it." Dave replied, nodding and stepping out of the restaurant.

As Dave took his first step into the night air, he felt a familiar feeling in his mind, the same that he had seen when he met Equius. Before his eyes materialized a tarot card resembling a cage; or perhaps a lantern; with an eye beneath it. The card itself was numbered 'IX'.

Dave heard a feminine voice in his head, regaling the mysterious mantra that accompanied each of his new social links.

"I am thou.

Thou art I.

The bonds that you forge will become your strength.

You shall receive a blessing when creating Personas of the Hermit Arcana."

The card faded from view as the others did in the past. Dave couldn't bring a new Persona's name to mind, but he knew that it would be revealed to him in time.

After his little metaphysical episode was over, Dave returned to the dorm.

Dave awoke from his slumber that night to the sound of an opera singer. It was the third most noticeable thing about the Velvet Room, right behind to the striking color and Igor's nose.

"Oh. Hey, Igor. What up?" Dave said as he sat up in his chair.

Igor looked at Dave almost disapprovingly. "Welcome to the Velvet Room. It seems that the outline of your quest has become more visible to you in recent days."

The long nosed man flipped over another card, the same Dave had seen earlier. The Hermit card.

"Your power is growing. But what will you do with it, I wonder? Where is your journey destined to end? How many are going to make it to the finish alongside you?"

The last bit of Igor's mysterious advice caught Dave's ear more than most of the stuff that he rambled on about. "What are you talking about?"

"As you progress in your trials, more shall be revealed to you. Keep those whom you hold close, close to your heart. Bonds are not so easily broken even once one half is no longer present." Igor said, continuing to be as cryptic as possible.

Dave groaned. "Dude, can you cut the all the riddle bullshit and tell me what's going on? Seriously, wandering blindly through the dark is starting to get annoying."

Igor rubbed his forehead. "Our previous guests were much more... receptive to the advice we offered."

"Well maybe your last guests were huge tools, but you're telling me some of my friends might die? Fuck you! I'm not going to sit here and be spoon-fed a bunch of cryptic warnings and wait for it to happen! If there's something I can do, then tell me how to do it!" Dave shouted angrily, slamming his fist on the table.

Igor did not flinch or budge. "I ask only that you take what I say to mind as you proceed. It is not my duty to reveal the exact details of what is laid before you. Even if I had the desire to do so, I would not."

Dave groaned and returned to his seat. "Alright, fine, I get it. Bound by some kind of godly code or something. What the hell am I supposed to do, just sit there and take it like a college dropout with daddy issues?"

"Simply continue to pursue your power's true capabilities." Igor answered, waving his hand over the card on the table and causing it to disappear. "Do this and you may cause a miracle. All is not lost so long as you use your power to its fullest."

"Make more friends." Dave said simply. "Got it."

"We will speak again, hopefully on more pleasant terms." Igor said. "Farewell."

Dave closed his eyes, drifting back to sleep until the next day.


	12. Chapter 12 - Relative Instability

John thudded his fist against Dave's door. "Dave! We're going to be late!" he shouted, leaning up against the door. Dave was always one to drag himself out of bed, but he usually didn't sleep through his multiple alarms.

Dave groaned and rolled out of his bed, falling on the floor with his blanket to soften to fall. "Hang on." he muttered, his voice muffled by the blanket. He forced himself to his feet and outfitted himself in his uniform, albeit a bit sloppily so.

"Fuck you, Igor." Dave muttered to himself as he went to his door and exited the room. John crossed his arms. "You okay?"

"Fucking peachy." Dave replied, lifting his shades and rubbing his eyes. "I didn't sleep well, alright? I'll have to fight through today."

"Well, I hope you're going to be awake enough after school." John said. "I'm taking you to meet the A/V club people today. You said you wanted to join, right?"

"Oh. Well, yeah." Dave said. He honestly didn't feel like having more things to do after school; perhaps it was his current state of sleep deprivation that made him think as such; but it would be a good opportunity to meet more people. More people meant more social links and more Personas to use in the computer world so he wouldn't get his ass kicked.

More friends. The things that Igor had alluded to made Dave resistant to the idea of making more friends. Who wasn't going to make it to the end of the computer mystery? Would establishing friendships just put those Dave knew into mortal danger?

Dave affirmed himself that he wasn't going to let that happen. John was his best friend, Rose was his sister, and Jade... There was too much to lose for him to sit passive while Igor's prophetic allegory threatened at the doom of those he cared about. It seemed that Igor meant that some would make it out alive; Dave could only hope that he could make the number of survivors larger.

It was too much of a depressing topic to think about and Dave wasn't about to let some bullshit from a long-nosed fortune teller ruin his school year. After a yawn, Dave motioned to John that he was ready to go.

"Alright then. Come on, or else we'll be late." John urged. Dave yawned and followed. "Where are Harley and Lalonde?"

"They left before us." John replied. "Rose left in a hurry."

"Yeah, no shit." Dave replied. "Her Shadow was right, she gets pissed when something doesn't go like she wants it to."

"What are you talking about?" John asked, looking at Dave with a confused look on his face as he opened the dorm door and began walking down their route to class.

"Oh my god, please don't tell me you're that dense, Egbert." Dave replied, shaking his head.

"Dense?"

"Yes, dense. Thick headed. Come on, you watch all those shitty romance movies. You know the part when the dweeb gets the girl of his dreams but then realizes his childhood friend liked him from the start and had to suck it up?"

"Are you implying that Rose..." John said, stopping for a moment.

"I'm telling." Dave said. "And personally I think she needs to get over it and let you do what you want. I'm just letting you know, she might have a bit of vendetta against Vriska for a while."

John sighed. "I finally get a girl to pay me half a mind and then it goes sour with someone else."

"Yep. Pretty shitty." Dave said, continuing on their way to class.

"Thanks for the helpful advice!" John called out as he followed. Dave gave him a thumbs up without turning around.

Rose kept her head down at lunch, having declined any food. Her appetite just wasn't there. Jade looked at her with genuine worry while they waited for Jane and Roxy to return from the lunch line.

Roxy sat next to her with her tray of food and patted her back. "Doing okay there?" she asked. Rose sighed in response. She hated being this childish towards something, but she couldn't help it. She told herself that she wasn't going to act like a victim of the widely-used excuse of the 'friendzone', yet here she was.

Jade leaned over and whispered into Roxy's ear, letting her know what the issue was.

"Aw, hun." Roxy said, pushing her tray a bit away from her and turning to Rose. "Now listen, it ain't you, she just kinda got there first. But you know how all this goes, especially with chicks like Serket."

Rose lifted her head from her crossed arms, tilting her head at Roxy. She needed to hear some words of reassurance, no matter how embarrassing her current state was.

"Ya know, they'll be mega happy and stuff but then it'll be over in a few weeks." Roxy said, patting Rose's back. "They're not even dating yet, right? So no definites or anything. Chin up! Besides, he's happy. That's a good thing. Be happy for him at least."

Rose sighed, smiling ever so slightly. It was enough of a smile to make Jade feel better.

Jane joined the group a few minutes later. "What did I miss, Rolal?" she asked, sitting aside Jade.

"Nothin' important, really." Roxy affirmed. "Just some sisterly reassurance."

Jane nodded with a smile, being smart enough to figure out what was going on. "Well, that's what we're here for. Don't be afraid to come to us if you need someone to talk to!"

Jade nodded. "Same here. But you knew that already." she said with a smile. "What else are best friends for?"

Rose sat up, feeling much better. "Yes... Yes, alright. I apologize. I'll endeavor to handle this better."

"There ya go!" Roxy exclaimed. "Step one is sayin' it, but step one is good enough for now."

Rose's smile widened. It would be good for her to look on the bright side of things.

After the last bell rang, John took Dave to the science building where both the computer lab and the A/V club room were located. Upon entering, they were greeted by a few others who were sitting around doing nothing, save for one boy who was tapping away at a keyboard. Dave also noticed Roxy sitting on a bean bag with a laptop situated on her lap. "Roxy?" Dave said.

"Surprised?" Roxy said with a giggle.

"Roxy and Sollux are our best programmers." John clarified. "We're technically an A/V club that deals with anything the school needs; a presentation for an assembly, a playlist for a dance, or sound setup for a play. But off the record, we get to mess with programming languages and stuff all the time."

The boy at the computer turned around to face Dave and John. He wore some outlandish shades with different colored lens; one red, one blue. Dave could appreciate the irony of wearing 3-D shades when there wasn't even anything 3-D to look at; it was something that he would have to consider at some point to keep his irony level topped off.

The student spoke to Dave, his voice accented with a prominent lisp. "Hey, sup. Sollux Captor."

Dave tried not to smirk at the lisp. "Hey. Dave Strider." he said, shaking Sollux's hand.

"You're the one John talked about then. Hope you can handle all the audio better than most of the people here." Sollux replied, glaring at one of the other students.

John scratched the back of his neck. "Yeah, we've had some bad luck with running music for stuff in the past. So you being here is kinda a big bonus. You have more experience with this stuff than anyone combined. Maybe with you running the show, the school dances and stuff won't be complete snooze-fests."

Dave smirked and cracked his fingers. "We'll see if anyone can handle my sick fires, then. I'm in."

"Cool." Sollux said, wheeling back around to attend to the code he was writing. Dave knew little about programming; the minute knowledge he had came from John's attempts at coding over the last few years, and it was widely known that John was an excessively poor programmer, much to his annoyance. Whatever Sollux was working on was completely indecipherable to Dave's eyes.

"Sweet!" John exclaimed. "Okay, let me introduce you to the others then. You know Sollux and Roxy. Karkat's usually here but he decided not to come today. Then there's Mark, Greg, and Diane."

Dave waved to the last three that John mentioned. They looked like somewhat irrelevant people in the grand scheme of things, and Dave doubted he would be spending much time with them at all for some reason. A cool dude such as himself could only accept a select few into his exclusive social circle, especially when their friendships meant awesome Personas would come to be. Hopelessly generic folk such as Mark, Greg, and Diane just wouldn't cut it.

Dave took a seat next to a computer and examined the library of music that was sectioned off for events. "Oh, hell no." he stated as he looked through the radio favorites of the day. "Dude, really? Who comes up with these lists?"

"The administration basically tells us what we can and can't play." John said. "You know how it is with school authorities and censorship. We basically have to get whatever's popular."

"That's because they don't know what kinda shit I can crank out." Dave replied. "Give me a week. Me and Harley collabed on some stuff and I have hours of other sick beats I've made. They'll never know what hit their ears."

John smiled and shook his head. "Alright, I believe you. Dave, you're in charge of the playlists for whatever they ask us to play music for."

Dave nodded in response. Another outlet for his talents had been opened and despite what he might have expressed with his cool exterior, he couldn't be more excited.

After about an hour messing with the meager sound program that was on the school computer, Dave found himself sorely missing the badass setup he had on his laptop, and he longed to mess around with his tables.

"John, ready to go back?" Dave called out, turning in his chair. John was nowhere to be found; Dave then remembered that John had already left thirty minutes ago. The only people still in the room were himself and Sollux.

"He left already." Sollux said, repeating what Dave had already thought to himself.

"Oh, shit. I forgot." Dave explained, standing from his chair. "Well, I'm gonna head out. Good to meet you."

Sollux turned in his chair and nodded. "Yeah, you too. I'll see you when the club meets again." he said, offering his hand out to Dave.

Dave shook his hand again and nodded back at him. "Got it. Later, then."

Exiting the room, Dave found himself stopped by the now-familiar feeling of the announcement of a new social link being established. This time, it was a distinct male voice that spoke to him; or perhaps two male voices. Dave couldn't tell if it was that or a single voice with an echo.

"I am thou.

Thou art I.

The bonds that you forge will become your strength.

You shall receive a blessing when creating Personas of the Magician Arcana."

Dave was able to visualize a tarot card marked with the roman numeral 'I', decorated with two hands holding a flame and a pair of eyes looking over the flame itself. The card faded from view shortly after.

Upon returning to the dorm, Dave found Jade sitting on the sofa watching TV. Squiddles was playing; Dave wasn't sure if she was watching a show intended for young children ironically or because she sincerely enjoyed it.

Truthfully, Dave felt comfortable when talking to Jade, and he really needed someone to vent to about the things that Igor had told him. The words muttered by the Velvet Room's proprietor had been eating away at him since he woke up, and it was to the point that it was the only thing on Dave's mind. He couldn't decide how to feel about it, and a second opinion on it would help him understand how to feel about it.

"Hey, Har?" Dave called, his hands in his pockets.

"Oh, hi Dave!" Jade answered, turning her head and waving. "Need something?"

"Yeah, actually. Can we talk for a bit?" he asked, avoiding looking directly into Jade's eyes. "It's kinda important."

Jade's eyes lit up. "Of course we can! Just give me a sec!" she exclaimed happily, running over to slip on her shoes and to grab her favorite jacket; a black zipper-hoodie with a white symbol that resembled a spiral galaxy decorating the back and the left side of the front. Once she was ready, she accompanied Dave out of the dorm.

"What's this about, Dave?" Jade asked, placing her hands in her jacket pockets as they walked down the sidewalk.

Dave took a deep breath. "Alright. First thing; you can't tell anyone I'm freaking out about this. My image as a completely cool badass would be FUBAR."

"Umm... okay?" Jade murmured. "What's the matter?"

"The dreams are happening again." Dave admitted with a sigh.

"The ones in the Velvet Room with the long-nose guy?"

"Igor, yeah. But they're not dreams, Jade. I'm pretty much convinced that what Igor says is right. It's not a dream but it's not reality either. He's been right about everything so far, but..."

Jade stopped walking and turned her head to Dave, catching him on the shoulder to turn him towards her. "But what?"

"He said something last time. He said something like 'how many of your friends are going to make it to the end of your journey?' and it just really got to me. I think he's saying that someone's going to die and they're going to be someone I'm friends with."

Jade was speechless for a moment, unsure how to respond to the grim revelation. "Well... it's dangerous in there, so... maybe he's just warning us about it. To let us know to be careful?"

Dave shook his head. "This dude spouts some real prophetic shit. He's never been wrong. He's had other guests in that room too, so I have no fucking clue how long he's been doing this fortune telling thing. If he says something is going to happen, it's going to happen."

"Well... He didn't say how many?"

"No. Just that he wondered how many would make it."

"Oh, Dave..." Jade sighed, looking down at the ground. "This is really bothering you, isn't it?"

Dave placed a hand on his forehead out of frustration. "If anyone wonders why I never want to take the lead of something, this is why. I can't handle this shit. I don't need to be the main character in some game that some godly asshole is playing with us, or whatever this computer world bullshit is. I wish Igor would just tell me what the fuck is going on, but he says he can't."

"Sometimes the person who thinks he'd be the worst leader ends up being just the person everyone needs, Dave." Jade said, crossing her arms behind her back. "You're really selling yourself short here. If anything happens to us, it won't be your fault."

"Yes it will!" Dave shouted, a little louder than he had intended. Seeing Jade's widened eyes, he calmed down. "Yes it will. I'm the one who gets these super-special powers that somehow makes me stronger than everyone else, so naturally I have to be the one who leads the charge into the creepy, unknown computer world filled with strange things that want to smear the walls with us. What am I supposed to do if one of you gets hurt? We have no clue what will happen."

"You're right, we don't. But if Gamzee's really trying to hurt people by forcing them in there, it's a risk we're willing to take." Jade said, placing a hand on his shoulder. "If we don't, who will, right? You're not alone either. We're here to help. You're not the only one who can stop anyone from getting hurt. And people care about you too."

Dave rubbed his temples. "What should I do then?"

"Why should you change anything?" Jade asked. "I think you're doing fine with what you're doing right now. Keep making friends, Dave. Having friends is great! And it's even better if it means you get more Personas from it. If you do that and keep getting more powerful, then you'll be better at protecting everyone. If you do that, we'll be fine."

Dave sighed and leaned against a street light for a moment, taking in all that Jade had said. "Alright, Har." he said, finally. "You've convinced me. I think I'll sleep easy tonight too. Provided that Igor doesn't drag me into the room again."

"It sounds like he's just doing his job." Jade pointed out. "Don't get too mad at him. I'm sure he's helping as much as he can."

"Yeah, I guess." Dave muttered. "Man, it's weird how this whole Persona business has made pretty much anything that comes out of my mouth believable."

"We wouldn't have all been together in this situation if I didn't believe you anyway, silly." Jade replied with a smile. "That's what friends are for."

"You're right." Dave affirmed, a genuine smile creeping onto his face. "Thanks, Ha- Um, Jade."

Jade smiled and nodded. "Of course!"

Dave looked around. "I guess we better get back inside before everyone starts wondering where we went."

"Eh, we're not too far, but I guess you're right. It's starting to get cold." Jade said, walking back with Dave to the dorm.

"Good. Cold weather is the shit."

They reached the door, but Dave stopped Jade as she reached the door handle.

"Seriously, thanks for listening to me. I was serious about not telling anyone about this, alright?"

"My lips are sealed. Your secret is safe with me, Mr. Cool Guy!" Jade replied with a sincere smile.

Satisfied with her answer, Dave held the door open for Jade and retired to his room for the night for some much-needed sleep.


	13. Chapter 13 - Nick Cage Would Be Proud

Dave was woken up by his alarm clock a few days later. Groggily, he rolled over onto his other side and checked the time. 9 AM, which is what his alarm clock was set to on weekends so he could sleep in. Dave dragged himself out of bed and outfitted himself in his favorite shirt, a red shirt with a record on the front, as well as a pair of simple jeans.

As he was about to step out to grab some breakfast, Dave noticed that he forgot to check his calendar. Sunday, September 1st. Tomorrow would be Labor Day and therefore the 'block party' of sorts that was held for the students would be on that day. What caught Dave's eyes most, however, was the small note scribbled in red ink on the present day, which read 'track tryouts 2 pm or equius might kill you'.

"Goddammit." Dave muttered. Why did he even agree to go in the first place?

Oh yeah. 'Or Equius might kill you.' Dave could still feel the freakishly STRONG grip that was exerted on his poor hand during that handshake.

It wasn't like Equius had specifically wanted him to make the team; he just wanted him to try out, and that was exactly what Dave was going to do. Try out, make an ass of himself, and still get credit for trying. That would hopefully get Equius off his back.

Dave headed downstairs, where he came upon a half-asleep John as well as Dirk and Jake, who were both munching on sandwiches.

John's eyes fluttered open as Dave poked him. "Mmm... What?"

"Stayed up too late texting the lady companion, hm?" Dave asked.

"Shut up." John muttered as he turned over away from Dave.

"Any news on Gamzee, though?" Dave inquired, figuring he should ask before John fell asleep again.

John shook his head. "Nothing, and she's pretty pissed about it. She's been tearing her hair out trying not to mention it to anybody."

"Well, tell her to keep it up." Dave replied. "We need to keep this shit under a theoretical lid."

"Yeah, I know." John uttered with a sigh. "Still wish we could just tell everybody, but I guess that'd be bad. The more people that get in there, the more people we have to save, and they'd all be in danger if we didn't get there fast enough."

Dave nodded. "Exactly. So let's hope Gamzee grabs someone who has a strong mind."

"Amen to that." John agreed, closing his eyes again. Dave decided to let him sleep.

"Where are the females at?" Dave asked Dirk and Jake as he approached the kitchen counter.

"I believe they went meander off somewhere else. They were already gone by the time we woke up." Jake replied, tossing away the paper towel that served as the plate for his sandwich.

"Jane didn't say what they were doing, so I guess they're just hanging out." Dirk added. "Roxy's probably dragging them all over for who knows what."

Dave nodded. "Yeah, I suppose so. Well... I'm gonna head out. Equius got me to try out for track, and I've gotta be there in a few hours. Might as well find the place first."

Dirk pulled out his phone, opened up an image, and placed the phone on the desk. "Here, look. I've got a map. The stadium's over here." he said, pointing out the stadium. "That's your place."

"Alright." Dave affirmed. "See you guys later then."

Dave sat himself in the bleachers, panting and feeling a little faint from the heat. He was once again reminded of why he hated most sports. At least he was sure that he accomplished his goal, however; there was no chance that he'd be making the track team at this point.

A short girl wearing a blue hat resembling a cat approached Dave with a bottle of water and a wet towel, which she placed on his forehead. "You gotta be care-furl. Getting too hot could end up getting you hurt, you know!"

"Yeah... I was kinda guilt tripped to be here, this isn't my sort of thing." Dave answered, taking a large swig of water. "Thanks, uh..."

"Nepeta." the girl replied, taking the towel off his forehead. "I'm the manager for the track team. Equius is like a big brother to me, so we like to do things together! I'm a little too short to actually go running though, so manager is fine."

"Right on. Good to meet ya, Nep. Dave Strider." he replied, placing the water aside.

Nepeta giggled. "Right back at ya! Sorry Equius made you come out here. He's a little abrasive sometimes."

Dave nodded, holding up his hand. "You're telling me. I think he re-arranged the bones in my hand a few days ago."

"That sounds just like him! He's purretty strong. Sometimes he doesn't even realize it!" Nepeta agreed. "But even so, I still gotta take care of him! He'd be lost without me."

"A little thing like you keeping that big guy in check?" Dave asked, finding her occasional cat puns a little odd.

"Hey!" Nepeta said with a slight growl, before realizing that Dave was joking. "Well, yeah. He's a big softie once you get to know him!"

"I'll take your word for it." Dave said, watching as Equius flung a javelin like a missile as an example to the others.

"You're new, aren't you?" Nepeta asked. "I don't think I've efur seen you around."

"Me and my sis moved here before the school year started." Dave responded. "You might know her. Rose?"

"Oh yeah!" Nepeta confirmed with a smile. "Sure, I know her. She's really quiet."

"That's because you didn't talk to her." Dave clarified, smirking. "No, she can talk your ear off if you're not careful. Your ear will need an extended vacation. Needs to take its' mind off a few things, get to know itself. That kinda thing."

Nepeta tilted her head. "You're weird! But it's funny."

Dave rolled his eyes. He got that line often.

"Anyways, I better get back to the team. I hope you at least come see them compete sometime!" Nepeta said, taking the towel.

"Yeah, sure." Dave said. Going to sports events then ironically hanging around elsewhere in the stadium was one of his favorite activities.

Nepeta smiled. "Gotcha! Take care, okay?" she shouted as she ran back to the team, waving at Dave before reaching the field.

A voice in his head hit him once more, speaking in a feminine tone this time. Dave noted that each voice that accompanied a new social link of his matched the gender of the linked person. Linkee. Whatever.

"I am thou.

Thou art I.

The bonds that you forge will become your strength.

You shall receive a blessing when creating Personas of the Lovers Arcana."

The card that appeared was marked with the roman numeral VI. The card featured a tree that divided two people away from each other, with a large heart situated on top of the tree. The card dissipated soon after it appeared, and Dave was returned to his normal state of cognition.

Dave nodded and waved back. Once she was back to work, Dave grabbed his things and returned to the dorm.

Dave was greeted by Rose and Roxy when he entered the dorm again.

"Damn. You look shit." Roxy observed, a small hiccup accompanying her statement.

"Right back at you." Dave replied, plopping himself down on a recliner.

"Shit must look pretty good then." Roxy retorted with a wink. Dave had met more than a few drunks while living in Texas, and Roxy was by far his favorite drunk. She wasn't violent or a massive asshole, she was just funny.

Dave gave Roxy a fistbump then looked at Rose. "What's up, sibling?"

"You could just use my name, you know." Rose quipped as she wrote down who-knows-what in a leather-backed journal.

"Nah, too conventional." Dave said, popping open a bottle of apple juice that he had bought from the vending machine outside the dorm. After a long day of unnecessary physical exertion, a bottle of AJ was mandatory to restoring the Strider equilibrium.

"Well, 'sibling', I'm merely entertaining myself with a hint of creative writing. And before you ask, no, you can't see it." Rose retorted. Dave knew she meant nothing by the rather harsh tone. She just sounded like that when she was entrenched in something.

"You sure you're not a mind reader or something?"

"Last I checked, no."

"Kay, good. Cause I'm thinking of all kinds of awful things to say about you to your closest friends. Your social circle is mine to destroy. And you'll never know."

Dave was hit in the face by a balled up newspaper page. After tossing it back and having it deflected away by Rose's idle hand, Dave gave up on his pointless crusade of teasing.

"Killjoy. Anyway, where are the others?" Dave asked, as he did pretty much any time someone wasn't in the dorm.

"Jade's in her room. John's with Serket somewhere. Jake's getting groceries. Dirk and Jane are making out somewhere according to Roxy." Rose answered, not looking up from her book. The venomous tone in her voice that came with the name 'Serket' gave Dave a better guess about what she was writing about.

"Last couple I woulda expected, too!" Roxy stated. "Missed my chance, ya know."

"Why wouldn't you expect them? I'm not a master of matchmaking or anything but they seem alright enough with each other." Dave asked.

"Dirk prefers men. Honestly Dave, if you'd paid as much attention as you've paid for apple juice, you'd pick up on a lot of interesting facts about the rest of us. My only guess is that he's dating Jane because he would feel bad turning her down, or he's questioning his choice in romance. Honestly, you could wonder what he likes for hours, but in the end you can't label what thoughts carry through Dirk's head and Dirk's head alone."

"Hey. Don't even hate." Dave retorted. "AJ is the shit and I'll take that over knowledge of what people would be happy finding when they stick their hand down someone's pants."

Rose finally cracked a smile and shook her head. "Alright, enough about that. It's impolite to judge, yes? They're happy." she admitted. Dave noted the slight hypocrisy in that statement due to the Vriska situation, but he valued his life and decided not to mention anything. He didn't know what Dirk's orientation was up to this point and honestly he didn't care, but he knew it was the kind of topic that had the potential to be pointlessly argued over for hours.

Dave remembered that he was going to DJ for the labor day gathering the next day, and figured that it was best to head to sleep while the night was relatively young. He waved good night to Roxy and Rose, then made his way up to his room.

Although he had to leave out some of his more 'sophisticated' works that were way too complicated to be appreciated by the normal folk, Dave's DJ work was a success with both the students and the administration; the former found is good to dance to, and the latter appreciated the lack of lyrics and therefore the lack of profanity.

After setting his playlist to autoplay so that he wouldn't have to man the turntables and make some slick scratches, Dave entered the realm of the common folk to mingle with his friends.

The campus' central park that was located in the middle of the school's most important buildings was relatively packed with students either dancing near Dave's station or divided into separate pockets of friends that were scattered across the park.

Perhaps Dave would join the main crowd and do a bit of dancing later. He could dance, after all, and he made sure that he did it with at least one hand in pocket at all times, because it made him look at least twice as badass.

Dave ran into Jade and Rose first, finding them sitting on a bench and talking the night away. Jake and Roxy were also nearby, sampling the burgers that the home ec club had whipped up.

"Dave!" Jade exclaimed, getting up from her seat. "That sounded great! You should really do this more often."

"Was there any doubt?" Dave asked smugly, shrugging. He was admittedly quite proud of himself; he would never have been able to entertain a crowd like this back home.

Home? Hell, this was his home now. It sure kicked Texas' ass.

"No, of course not!" Jade corrected, giving Dave a tight hug. "Ummm... Would you like to go dance with everyone?"

"Seriously? Damn, Har, I didn't think you'd be the type."

"I can dance!" Jade exclaimed, sticking her tongue out. "It's fun."

Dave put a hand to his chin. "I've got a better idea. Follow me for a sec."

Taking hold of her wrist, Dave maneuvered himself and Jade through the bustling crowds back to his DJ station.

"Alright, take the left side of the turntable, I'll get the right." Dave said, pointing to the record that was currently motionless while the autoplay was on.

"But... I'm not exactly sure how to do this." Jade responded, looking at Dave a little worriedly.

"Doing one at a time is easy. Just watch me and I'll give you cues."

Vriska tugged John out of the crowd of dancers, laughing. "Jeez, John, you dance like a dork." she teased. "A cute dork." she added after she saw the look on his face.

"Well, I don't really get much of a chance." John replied, sticking his tongue out. "My number of friends pretty much doubled this year alone."

"Same here, kinda!" Vriska said, taking John to a relatively quiet area with fewer people around so they could talk. "I'm having a lot of fun."

"Me too, hehe." John muttered, rubbing the back of his neck a little nervously. "Can't believe I don't do this more often."

"Well, maybe you'll have more of a chance now." Vriska offered with a grin. "After all, you've got me!"

John blushed slightly, trying not to show it. Thankfully it was rather dark, but his inability to find any words didn't help disguise his flustered state.

Dave cut the current song short. "Jade, hang on."

Jade removed herself from the turntable. In little over 5 minutes Jade had a basic grasp on the technique of scratching and was actually having a lot of fun. Why Dave wanted to stop all of a sudden was beyond her.

Dave pulled a nearby microphone closer to him and spoke. "Alright, ladies and gentlemen of Sassacre, it's time to top the night off with a slow dance, so grab a partner, willing or otherwise, and put your awkward dancing skills to the test!"

Absconding from his turntable and the microphone, Dave turned to his laptop and quickly scrolled to a song that he had saved should a very specific situation arise during the night; "How Do I Live Without You" by a Ms. Yearwood, as heard in the movie Con Air.

"Don't fuck this up, Egbert." Dave muttered as he clicked play.

John's eyes lit up as he heard the first few notes, and as memories of bunnies and touching family reunions flooded his brain, he fought to hold back tears.

Vriska's eyebrow rose. "John, you alright?"

"Oh, yeah!" John responded, standing and offering his hand to her. "Umm... May I have this dance?"

Vriska smiled. "Oh, mister gentleman! Of course you may." she affirmed as she took his hand and stood up with him. John awkwardly placed one hand on Vriska's hip and took one of her hands in his other hand, while she placed her free hand on his shoulder.

The first steps seemed to drag on forever as John worried about every detail of his movements but soon he got accustomed to the rhythm of the song; he had heard it so many times before, after all.

He couldn't take his eyes off of her. For a moment he was almost glad that for the series of events that allowed them to rescue her in the first place The computer world allowed him to play the hero, and allowed him to actually get in the good graces of the girl that he had liked from afar for so long. It was a little selfish, but he couldn't help it.

Vriska smiled as John slowly took the lead once he got more comfortable with the dance. It was nice to feel accepted, even welcome with someone. John didn't care what she had done in the past. Perhaps it was because he wasn't a victim of it, but judge her he didn't. Perhaps a relationship with John would be a good chance to start over.

"Speaking of good chances..." Vriska muttered.

John titled his head. "Wha-?" he asked, but was cut off by Vriska's lips pressing against his.

His mind went haywire. Oh shit oh shit oh shit. All he could do was force himself to retain his hold on Vriska's hip and try not to faint. Vriska knew what she was doing; she had obviously kissed someone before, unlike poor kiss-virgin John.

Well, kiss-virgin till now.

Rose felt a small pain akin to a light migraine for a second. She wasn't sure what caused it.

Dave gave Jade a celebratory fistbump. "Let's let those two duke it out in their tongue battle. We can get back to this later."

Jade shook her head with a smile and followed Dave off the small stage that housed his turntables and other equipment.

"That was a very sweet thing to do, you know." Jade said with a smile. "You're a good friend."

"Yeah, I know." Dave replied with a grin. He was on a roll today. "He'll owe me of course."

"What, you think you'll need his help to kiss a pretty girl?" Jade asked, winking.

"Pfft, no. I can handle that myself. I mean I can get him to make me a sandwich or something when I don't feel like it."

"You can handle it yourself, huh?" Jade laughed, drawing a little closer as her heart pounded.

"Are you doubting the charm of the Strider?" Dave asked, slowly realizing what she was getting at. "I told you before, it is unwise to doubt the Strider."

Jade grinned, her face red. "So I've learned." she muttered, drawing closer still.

Their lips met silently, isolating them in a world of their own if only for a moment.

After what seemed like forever, Jade pulled away with an even redder face than before. "I, umm..."

Dave scratched the back of his neck, unsure of what to say. If he weren't wearing his shades, one could see his eyes widened in surprise and in shock that he did, indeed, just do that.

"I... better go." Jade muttered, turning and speeding away before Dave had a chance to stop her.

"Jade! Shit." Dave called, groaning when he realized she had already gotten past earshot. Faaaantastic.

The party ended at 11 PM and the administration had the even shut down so that the student body could get to bed in preparation for the next day. Dave entered and was surprised to be assaulted with a hug from John.

"You magnificent son of a bitch." John muttered, practically squeezing the life out of Dave.

"Ease off, dude!" Dave griped, pushing John off.

"Sorry, sorry, I just can't thank you enough! This was the best night ever!" John exclaimed. "What's the matter with you?"

"It's nothing. Don't worry about it. Proud of you, though. Saw the whole thing from my perch." Dave responded, pounding John's fist with his own. "Pretty soon you'll have to hear us yelling at you two to keep it down."

John rolled his eyes, blushing.

"Anyway, I better get to bed before-"

Dave was interrupted by Jade entering the dorm. She looked him in the eye for a moment, then quickly turned her head away and headed up the stairs.

"What's her deal?" John asked.

"We, uh... Celebrated our victory in getting you and Vriska to tongue-wrestle by... you know... emulating... the... act."

"You kissed Jade?" John exclaimed, loud enough for a nearby Rose to hear. Rose merely shook her head. Everyone's love lives seemed to be working out save for her own.

"Yeah, I did, and now she won't talk to me. I tried texting her and calling her before they shut the event down but she wouldn't answer. I'm not sure if she's pissed off at me or something. I can't fucking read women, John."

Rose was about to say something when yet another interruption burst through the dorm door in the form of Jane, who seemed to be hiding the obvious fact that she had been sobbing a few moments before. Before anyone could ask, Jane retreated upstairs.

Roxy followed Jane into the dorm, running to the freezer and pulling out a tub of ice cream and two spoons from the utensil drawer. "Everyone out of the way! Momma Lalonde's got a heart to mend!"

"What happened?" John asked.

"She and Dirk broke up. Don't talk about it." Roxy stated simply before chasing after Jane.

Dave rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Fuck, it's like everyone chose this date specifically for all kinds of shit to go down."

Dirk silently came through the dorm door, looked at the three of them gathered in the living room, and made his way to his own room. That left only Jake, and Dave assumed that he had already returned before the rest of them.

With a groan, Dave plopped down onto the sofa. "Well, damn."

"Just talk to her about it." John advised.

Rose nodded. "I agree with John. She appears to be suffering from some inner doubts. Either she's worried that you might not feel the same, or she's worried that the kiss might have ruined your friendship for a chance of a relationship that might not even happen."

"Why the hell would she think that?" Dave asked irritably. "I didn't pull away or anything. She's like one of the only sane people I know. Why wouldn't I feel the same?"

"That's just something you'll have to tell her." Rose answered. "But later. Leave her be for now."

"Yes ma'am." Dave muttered sarcastically.

John's phone began ringing to the tune of the Ghostbusters theme. He took the device out of his pocket and answered it.

"Hello? Yeah, it's me. What? You don't mean..."

Dave turned his head, wondering what was going on.

"Y-yeah, I'll give the phone to him. Hang on." John said, handing the phone to Dave.

"Hello?" Dave asked as he pressed the phone to his ear.

"Dave, it's Vriska. Terezi's in a coma, I can't wake her."

"Oh, shit." Dave exclaimed, sitting up on the sofa. "Do you think...?"

"It's the same thing that happened to me, right? What else could it be?"

"Fuck." Dave said. "We'll have to cut class tomorrow then, won't we?"

"Yes, we're going to have to fucking cut class!" Vriska exclaimed angrily. "Sorry, I'm just worried... Look, I was in there for almost a day, I think. She didn't really start pointing out the heavy shit to me until you guys got there, as if she wanted me to put on a show or something. But I'm not waiting longer than I have to! I'm coming over first thing tomorrow morning. We'd be useless if we went in tired like this. I think Terezi's shadow might do the same thing; wait until we're there to start spewing the real dark stuff, but I'm not willing to wait longer than it takes me to sleep."

"I agree." Dave responded.

"Good. Be ready, I'm going to be there as early as I can be. Bring everyone you can."

"Got it." Dave confirmed, handing the phone back to John. John consoled Vriska, told her not to worry, and assured her that they would get there in time before hanging up.

Rose looked at them, puzzled.

"Vriska's friend Terezi is in the computer. We're going in tomorrow morning. We're going to have to cut class and catch up later." Dave said.

Rose sighed. "Very well then. Are all 8 of us going in then?"

"If only four of us can go in at a time, I doubt it'd be a good idea to bring Jane or Jade right now. Probably not Dirk either." John pointed out. "We need to be focused."

"Focused." Rose muttered, closing her book.

"Then we can go in with Roxy, Jake, and Vriska. That makes six. If someone gets hurt then they can get out of there and have the other go in after us." Dave stated.

"Noted." Rose said, standing. "We'd best get some sleep, then."

"I wish we could go in now." John sighed.

"We'd fight like shit. I'm fucking exhausted." Dave replied. "Just try to get some sleep. She'll be alright."

John nodded solemnly and headed up to his room, as did Rose. Dave stayed on the ground floor to pop an aspirin before heading to bed. Everything, it seemed, decided to spring up all of a sudden and he'd have to deal with it on his own time.

Still, not everything was too terrible. He was glad to have been able to set his friend up. Once this Terezi business was over, John would be so in.

Dave's inner voice rang, this time in a male voice.

"I am thou.

Thou art I.

The bonds that you forge will become your strength.

You shall receive a blessing when creating Personas of the Fool Arcana."

The card that materialized into view showed a man with a sack slung over his shoulder, followed by a dog. It was numbered '0'.

Dave found it a little odd that he didn't have a secured social link with John up until just now. Perhaps they only counted if the relationship was established or developed after he was awakened to the Wild Card, not before. Whatever the cause was, Dave had little time to ponder it. He would need sleep to face the trials of the next day.


	14. Chapter 14 - Order in the Court

Dave woke in a cold sweat the next morning. For a moment he thought that he had visited the Velvet Room the previous night, but he couldn't remember anything that was said; this was in stark contrast to his normal visits where each cryptic riddle that Igor muttered had become burned into his mind. No, what he had dreamed of was just that; a dream. A nightmare, truly.

He couldn't show anyone that he was having so much trouble coping with his precarious situation. It was paramount to keeping up his cool exterior, and it would probably demoralize the others to see their unwilling leader having a mental breakdown.

A quick glance to his clock showed him that is was 5 AM. It was probably not the best idea to simply return to bed. He didn't want to dream anymore.

Dave descended the stairs in his school uniform, in case that Terezi would be rescued in time for school. With the way time passed in the computer world, one could never be sure.

As he suspected, no one was awake yet. Dave pondered making pancakes, but ended up settling for just a cup of coffee instead.

A soft knock on the door startled him a few minutes later. Who the hell was knocking at 5 in the morning?

A quick peek through the door's peephole answered his question. When Vriska said 'first thing in the morning', she really meant it. Dave opened the door and let her in.

"I know I'm early, but I couldn't sleep." Vriska said, carrying her laptop to the sofa. "I didn't think any of you would be awake either, really. I was prepared to wait outside for a few hours."

"Well, you just joined the 'Couldn't Sleep' club. I've been acting president for a few days." Dave responded, passing her a cup of coffee as well as a bit of cream and sugar in case she wanted any.

Vriska nodded in thanks. "Are we gonna wake any of the others?"

"I can go get Egbert and English, I guess. I'm not sure if the three people we're not taking will take kindly to being left out. But we need at least someone going to school today." Dave answered. "We're already a big enough group that we might get some shit for skipping class together. If we all did it at once, administration would probably group us together and take steps against us."

"Yeah, 'went into freaky computer world to save classmate's soul' is a pretty shitty excuse, huh?"

"Fuckin' shame, too, since it happens so often." Dave mused, sipping his coffee. "Let's let the others sleep a little longer while we stew in our early rising. They'll need their energy."

Dave had just placed a note on the fridge explaining that he needed Jade, Jane, and Dirk to skip out on the computer world today to prevent all of them from being punished together when he heard footsteps. John, Rose and Roxy descended the stairs with their laptops.

"Couldn't wake Jake up." John said. "He can go with the others today. Five of us will be enough."

Dave nodded and opened up his laptop on the coffee table. "We ready, then?"

Roxy nodded and placed her laptop out. "Ready as we'll ever be!" she exclaimed. Dave was surprised by her energetic mood. The specifics of her alcoholism continued to elude him; he was certain that she had plenty to drink the previous night, yet she seemed to not be hungover in the slightest. All the better for their upcoming mission, at least.

Rose was the last to open her laptop. "I'm ready." she confirmed.

Dave nodded to everyone and typed the code, losing consciousness a moment after.

The group was greeted by the voice that filled Asphodel. "New user registration confirmed. Player limit increased to six. Welcome, Vriska Serket."

Vriska took a step forward from where she had appeared, then reached up to her head. The candy-corn-like horns that had appeared the last time were there once again, and her skin was once again a dull grey tone. "What gives?" she asked no one in particular, running her hands along her horns.

John approached her, studying them. Their texture was bone-like, and the colors were distinctly separated, not blended as gradients. "I don't really get it. If this place is like a game, then maybe this is like a glitch?"

"Whatever it is, it only happens in here." Rose commented. "Did you hear what the voice said? Player limit increased to six. I assume we can take more people into each world now."

"Sounds like it." Dave agreed, nodding. "Five should be good. Let's go."

Roxy jogged over to a new door. "The place looks bigger than the last time I was here."

"Asphodel likely expands itself to create room for more doors." Rose answered. "As more people are brought in to create more worlds, the arcade will grow accordingly. This is all assumption, anyhow."

"Yeah, yeah." Vriska said, standing next to Roxy at the new door. "Let's get Terezi while we still can."

Rose huffed and joined the others in walking through the door.

Dave was last, doing what the others failed to do; reading the label of the door.

"Terezi Pyrope: Sadistic Courtroom. Great, more crazy." he muttered as he stepped through.

True to the door's label, Dave found himself in a dimly-lit court-house hall. By squinting his eyes, he could tell that the walls were accenuated with random smears of blood.

"Oh, that's lovely." Vriska commented, taking the lead. The others materialized their weapons, including Roxy who wielded a scoped, fully-automatic assault rifle. Dave had already found Jade's high-tech hunting rifle to be over the top; this was just ridiculous.

Vriska noticed what the others did and clenched her fist. After a small flash, she found a few dice in her hand. They seemed to be made of a high-quality blue gemstone material, and appeared to be of the D8 variety.

Dave's eyebrow quirked. "Well, that's a load of shit. Everyone gets a hammer or a fucking gun, but you end up with some shitty dice."

"Hey, these aren't shitty at all. I bet they'll be pretty useful, thank you very much!" Vriska retorted, smiling at her dice.

"If you say so. I guess that's what the Personas are for anyway." Dave answered, walking further down the hall.

Soft whispers could be heard from every direction, resembling the sound of a group of people trying to gossip in secret. The only sounds breaking the constant whispers were the words of the Persona-users or the occasional slamming of a gavel from deep within the courthouse. As they walked further, the whispers grew only louder.

Dave kicked open a door to find a large empty room. At the opposite side of the room was an ornate door, no doubt the one that lead to the main courtroom and Terezi's location. Blood splatters dotted the floor just as they decorated the walls.

"It's a little too quiet, isn't it?" John asked as he followed everyone into the room.

"Dammit, Egbert, that's right up there with 'what could possibly go wrong?' and 'it's probably nothing'." Dave muttered. As he finished his sentence, large metal bars appeared in front of both the entrance and the exit of the room, effectively locking the group inside.

Black puddles began forming in the far corners of the room, with various shadows taking form and slowly creeping towards the group. They resembled men in prison outfits, complete with a large of ball and chain on each one's ankle.

Instinctively, Dave called out to the Arcana that he held in his heart, settling on the Lovers. He felt that he had substantially more control over his power now, but still wouldn't be able to tell what Persona would come forth until he summoned it.

"Tam Lin!" he shouted, bringing forth the Lovers Card and slicing through it with his katana. Materializing into view was a blonde man clad in teal armor and wielding a deadly-looking spear. It was by far the most 'human' Persona that Dave had called as of yet,

The others called forth their Personas as well, including Roxy's previously-unseen Artemis. Artemis had the appearance of a huntress, clad in sleek armor and sporting long, shining purple hair. Her most striking feature was her lack of a right hand; instead, her right arm ended in a metallic crossbow, likely able to be used not only as a ranged weapon, but as a deadly bludgeon as well.

The shadows continued their slow approach, being joined by more of their brethren as they got closer.

Vriska was the first to act, tossing a handful of her dice at an approaching shadow. The small dice exploded into a burst of electricity, knocking the shadow away. Immediately after the throw, another set of dice materialized in Vriska's hand to replace her used set. Smirking, Vriska silently commanded Arachne to spray a small circle of webbing on the ground around her, helping to keep the shadows at bay while she peppered them with her dice. Each of her dice-throws seemed to have a random effect; some produced a fiery explosion, while others created a shower of icicles that rained on enemies.

Roxy, unable to get a good vantage point in the empty room, decided to make one herself. Artemis fired an arrow that struck the ground at Roxy's feet, creating an ice pillar that shot up and carried Roxy with it. With a height advantage, Roxy began picking enemies off with her rifle.

Dave was impressed by his new Persona's strong physical prowess, and found himself fighting side-by-side with Tam Lin in the middle of the fray. The shadows themselves weren't dangerous on their own; their numbers made them a threat, and their constant spawning rate didn't help the situation.

Completely unfazed, Rose focused on having Iris sending lightning bolts at any shadow that approached with deadly accuracy. Her curse-tag attack, Mahama, failed to hit with complete accuracy, and only took out a few of the shadows.

Despite their efforts, the shadows kept pressing their advance, forcing the group to back away closer to Roxy's ice pillar.

Vriska kept tossing sets of dice into the crowd, creating multicolored explosions that took at least some of the constant pressure off of the group.

"You've got to be fucking kidding!" Dave shouted as Tam Lin impaled a shadow on his spear, tossing it away with one simple swing.

"Got any other tricks up your sleeve?" John called as Perseus sent gusts at incoming shadows.

"Maybe!" Dave shouted, recalling Tam Lin and mustering up his will to use the Fool Arcana next. Perhaps his next Persona would be more effective against large groups.

"Loki!" he called, bringing forth the card of The Fool and shattering it. In Tam Lin's place appeared a purple-skinned, blonde man draped in a long white cloak. Loki stood much taller than Dave, reaching at least 7 feet.

"That works!" Roxy called. "Now get him to do something! Quick!" she added as she picked off the shadows that began chipping at her ice pillar.

Dave turned his head to Loki, who simply nodded and swung his arm out dramatically, his cloak flaring about as he gathered his magical power. Dave continued slicing at incoming shadows, trying to buy Loki time.

A large crack formed in Roxy's ice pillar, causing the entire structure to shatter and causing Roxy to plummet back to the ground into the middle of a crowd of the shadows. Even from the ground she fought back with her rifle and with Artemis, though the shadows clawed at her in her vulnerable state.

Dave's eyes widened as he sensed Loki was finished with his charging. A single word came to mind, which he uttered aloud.

"Niflheim!"

A single snapping sound rang in the room before all fell to silence. Ice began to form on the walls, slowly spreading to the ceiling and the floor.

Everyone's breaths began forming clouds of vapor as the temperature of the room rapidly dropped. The silence was suddenly broken by a large icicle shooting from the ceiling, crushing a group of shadows and disappearing right after. Another icicle shot from a different section of the ceiling and crushed yet another cluster of shadows. Soon enough, the room erupted with icicles springing forth from the ceiling and the floor, aiming at the many shadows in the room but completely avoiding Dave and his group.

The icy atmosphere died down as the last of the icicles disappeared, and the ice faded away from the walls. With the last shadows gone, Loki gave a nod to Dave and faded from view. Dave took a deep breath and then fell to his knees, the usage of Loki's spell taking a tremendous toll on his stamina.

John ran over and caught Dave, helping him up. "That was insane! Are you alright?"

"I feel like I just ran a fucking marathon." Dave responded, panting. "I can't use that again, I think it'd kill me at this point. I just need a break for a bit..."

"We don't have time for that!" Vriska shouted, approaching the exit of the room. The metal bars that had blocked their way faded with the shadow ambush, allowing them passage to the main court room. "You can rest after we save Terezi!"

"He just saved us from that legion of shadows. You could stand to be a bit more grateful." Rose lectured, crossing her arms.

"I am grateful! But I don't have time to talk about it, do I? Hurry up and get in here!" Vriska retorted, having Arachne bash the door in.

Beyond the door was a lavish courtroom, populated by dark humanoid figures that sat in the jury section; more shadows, no doubt. These shadows seemed docile, however. At the defense podium stood who Dave assumed to be Terezi, while another Terezi sat at the judge's podium with gavel in hand. The blue fog surrounding the Judge-Terezi made it clear that she was the shadow. Similarly to Vriska, Terezi seemed to sport horns and grey skin inside the computer, though her horns were less elaborate and resembled small spikes.

"Terezi!" Vriska shouted.

"Ah, excellent! More witnesses to your pitiful, self-destructive mental breakdown!" Shadow Terezi announced with a menacing giggle. "Should I start all over or just start from where we left off before they took care of all the escaped prisoners for me?"

"No!" protested the real Terezi. "Don't do this with Vriska here."

"What, you think she's the only one who doesn't think you're a fucked up piece of work? She knows it too!" Shadow Terezi responded, slamming her gavel. "Terezi can never make up her mind. Terezi's being a sociopath again! Terezi's going to Gamzee's room again even though he makes her feel like a worthless piece of shit!"

"You bitch!" Vriska shouted, aiming a throw of her dice.

John grabbed her arm to stop her. "This isn't something being made up, Vriska... this is Terezi talking to herself. It's the part of herself she repressed. It's just like with you."

"Repressed? Oh please!" Shadow Terezi shouted, once again slamming her gavel. "She tells herself this shit every night! This isn't anything she hasn't heard before."

Vriska couldn't bring herself to say anything, unaware of the torment that Terezi must have been putting herself through.

"You couldn't help it." Shadow Terezi continued, turning back to her normal self. "You never can. You keep swearing off acting like an idiot, telling yourself that you'll go on the straight-and-narrow, but like a junkie looking for a fix, you go right on back and put yourself on the self-destructive path the very next day!"

Terezi hung her head like a young child being lectured. "I know." she muttered.

"You talk about justice and a load of other bullshit. You want to be a big-shot, to put disgusting people in jail where they belong, but you're just as foul as the worst of them! Or should I say 'I'? Because I AM you. I'm the miserable sack of shit that you would see in the mirror every day, if you could even see!"

"I know!" Terezi shouted at her shadow self. "I know, alright? Everyone has these concrete ideas of what they want to do with their life but I don't! I never denied anything you said! I don't know how to make myself happy. Everything I do just makes me feel awful right after it's done."

Shadow Terezi looked onward, confused.

"Holy shit, is she accepting all that?" Dave asked. "Maybe we came here for nothing."

"Why do you think I stopped seeing Gamzee?" Terezi asked. "Why did I even ask you that, of course you know. I was trying to get away from how he made me feel... Like a piece of meat. You know all of that... because you are-"

Terezi suddenly lurched forward in a manner that seemed like her movements were not her own. She gasped aloud in pain, suddenly lurching backwards like a ragdoll until she was in a standing position. Her eyes began taking on a faint purple glow.

"Terezi! Hang on!" Vriska shouted, running towards the defendant's podium. Before she could make it halfway there, however, she too lost control over her body's movements and fell to the ground, convulsing and writhing in a similar manner to Terezi's lurching. Her eyes too began glowing a faint purple color.

"Oh, hell to the motherfuckin' no." called a familiar voice from behind the group. Dave whirled around, seeing who he indeed expected to see.

Gamzee, holding two flaming juggling clubs, strode casually into the courtroom. "What's good, motherfuckers? Enjoying the show?" he asked with an evilish grin. Akin to Vriska and Terezi, Gamzee also sported horns, though his were slightly curved and much taller than either of theirs. His skin was grey as well, though his face was painted white like a circus clown.

"You son of a bitch!" Vriska managed to cry as she attempted to fight the convulsions.

"So we were right. It was you." Dave stated. He readied his katana, despite the fact that he was still rather tired from his earlier exertions.

Gamzee laughed. "The fuck are you gonna do? There ain't no violence in the court, bro."

Shadow Terezi banged her gavel. "Excuse you, we're in the middle of a trial here! The last thing I wanted to hear was your voice."

"Just a sec, sis." Gamzee replied, suddenly standing among the shadows in the jury panel.

"Did he just teleport?" John asked, confused.

"Now, Rezi, what were you gonna say?" Gamzee continued with an evil grin. "What's the magic phrase that starts all the fun shit, huh?"

Terezi's mouth opened, again against her will. It was clear that Gamzee was exerting his control on both her and Vriska. Dave wondered why the same wasn't being done to subjugate himself and the others.

"You're... not..." Terezi muttered, as hard as she tried to stop herself from saying it. "Not... me."

Shadow Terezi stood from her podium. "Well, take what you can get, right?" she mused with a cackle, her dark blue fog turning blood red as she began her confirmation. Gamzee's laughter could be heard as well, though he wasn't anywhere to be see.

"Goddammit!" Dave exclaimed, summoning Tam Lin. He wouldn't be able to afford another elaborate attack like before.

The judge's podium crumbled and broke apart as Shadow Terezi's size grew, until finally the inky fog dissipated and revealed her true form. Shadow Terezi resembled her original self in face only; she floated from the ground but must have been at seven feet tall. Wrapped around her eyes was a blood-red cloth, and she was draped in a long judge's robe of the same color. In her left hand she held a set of scales of justice, and in her right she held a long, spiked judge's gavel that looked more like a warhammer than an actual gavel.

"I am a Shadow, the true self!" Shadow Terezi announced. "The moral arc of the universe bends at the elbow of justice! Prepare yourselves to be judged!"

Vriska finally brought herself to her feet; it seemed that Gamzee was no longer in control of her body. Arachne appeared behind her as soon as she was able to control her arms. "Gamzee, you're going to pay once we're done with this!" she shouted, even if Gamzee was apparently no longer there.

Shadow Terezi swung her gavel-hammer in a wide arc in an intimidating manner, turning her head to Vriska. Her blindfold glowed for a moment. "Your weakness has been judged!" she shouted, lifting her scales. A gust of wind rushed forth and struck Vriska and Arachne, sending them both away into a wall.

Roxy gasped and stood in front of Vriska, readying her gun as Artemis prepared to attack. A spear of ice struck and shattered upon Shadow Terezi, doing no significant damage. The Shadow grunted and turned to Rose, her blindfold glowing once again. Once the glow faded, a bolt of lightning shot through the air and hit Artemis, knocking both her and Roxy to the ground.

Rose looked to Dave. "She possesses the ability to identify our weaknesses at a moment's notice!" she shouted.

"Then let's hope Tam Lin doesn't die from a single lightning bolt." Dave muttered, hoping that he'd be able to stand another rough fight.

Shadow Terezi turned to John next, reading his weakness and sending a barrage of hailstones his way. At this rate, the fight would be lost in record time.

Dave readied himself and charged Shadow Terezi as she was turned on John. Tam Lin flew in after him and his spear met the shadow's hammer. Dave struck with his sword, ripping the long red robe as Tam Lin held her attention.

Shadow Terezi's blindfold glowed brightly as she attempted to scan Tam Lin but was unsuccessful in finding a weakness; in exchange for having no elemental attacks, Tam Lin was weak to no element. Shadow Terezi roared in defiance, pushing harder against Tam Lin's spear while Dave continued to harass her from below.

Rose attempted her unreliable Hama spell once more, and it again had no effect. It appeared that while it had the capability to wipe out weaker shadows, it was completely ineffective against stronger shadow forms.

John joined Dave in his harassment while Perseus used his buckler as a bludgeon on Shadow Terezi. Dave felt confident that their swarming tactics would be enough to overwhelm Shadow Terezi.

"Enough!" Shadow Terezi roared defiantly, a blast of energy pushing both John, Dave, and their Persona's a few feet back. Once her immediate space was clear, she lifted her scales and filled the room with a greenish smoke. Dave felt odd as the smoke washed over him, then felt a pain in his chest as he watched Tam Lin fade away in the face of the smoke. He looked around frantically and saw that everyone's Personas dissipated in the smoke.

"Fuck!" Vriska shouted, getting back to her feet after the harsh hit she had taken earlier. Roxy did the same and rushed behind the jury stands for some cover.

John and Dave leapt away from a gavel strike. "What the hell do we do?" John shouted, scrambling to get away from Shadow Terezi's icicle attacks.

Shadow Terezi cackled. "You can run, but you cannot hide!" she shouted, swinging her gavel wildly at the scrambling kids. In her triumph, she was caught off guard by a fiery explosion that struck her side.

Vriska tossed another set of dice, which erupted into a small burst of wind that cleared away a small amount of the smoke. While their Personas were unusable, Vriska was the only one capable of utilizing any elemental attacks. Her next dice barrage unleashed a spurt on noxious, purple liquid that coated Shadow Terezi's face, causing her to scream as it sizzled.

In a sudden moment of inspiration, Vriska tossed a handful of dice at John. John was alarmed at first but when the dice hit him, he was bathed in a brief light that dispelled the green smoke around him. Perseus reappeared behind him, much to John's relief.

Vriska then lobbed some dice at Roxy, but they erupted into ice instead. Roxy was hardly hurt by the attack since ice was her specialty, but Vriska's desired effect was not achieved. "Guess these things really are a gamble, huh?" she shouted to no one in particular as she continued to lob dice around the room. Some bursts cleared smoke, while others created various explosions that either hurt Shadow Terezi or narrowly missed the friends that Vriska was attempting to avoid hitting. Still, every so few handfuls of dice ended up striking one of the kids in an attempt to heal them.

Rose was next to be cured of the oppressive smoke. "Just a moment!" she shouted, raising her hand to command Iris. Iris raised her lance and radiated the same light that had cured John, sweeping the entire room clean of the smoke.

Shadow Terezi had freed herself of the corrosive poison that came from Vriska's dice, and the battle of attrition that the Persona users had waged against her was beginning to take its' toll on her. The greatest damage was to her blindfold, which had been almost completely destroyed by the acidic substance. She swung her gavel blindly, striking various parts of the courtroom but not the kids themselves.

Roxy ripped holes in Shadow Terezi's robe with her assault rifle and it was becoming clear that Shadow Terezi had no body beneath it; rather, the robe seemed to be her body. With a cry of pain, Shadow Terezi dropped her scales and gavel and collapsed, fading into black smoke and resuming her form as a complete lookalike of Terezi, wearing a simpler, black judge's robe.

Terezi rose from her place on the floor after she had lost consciousness in the presence of her Shadow and trudged over to her Shadow self. Vriska rushed over to help her up,

"I know you already kinda did, but... You've got to accept her, Terezi." Vriska said. "Officially. And hopefully without any interruptions this time!"

Terezi nodded, understanding and "looking" in the general direction of her shadow. "Yes... Like I said... I never denied that I keep doing all of this to myself. I can't just say 'I'm trying!', because I'm really not... As much as I hate it, this self destructive act is part of me. And I can't beat it alone. I have to stop facing it by myself, just making it worse. You know that, right? You're me."

Shadow Terezi smiled for a moment, fading into a Persona. Terezi's Persona closely resembled statues of 'justice' seen in many courthouses; a woman wrapped in white linen robes, with a scale in one hand, and a blindfold in the other hand instead of a sword. It was unclear why she held the blindfold instead of wearing it. She also sported a Greek-style helmet on her head, and had a shield strapped on her back.

"Athena." Terezi announced as the Persona faded into a card. The card was labeled with the numeral 'VIII' and depicted an upside-down sword, with a scale hanging from each side of the hilt. One side of the card was red, while the other was white. Once Terezi accepted the card, she was bathed in the characteristic blue light before collapsing into Vriska's arms.

"We better get her out of here." Dave said. "Where's the door?"

Roxy pointed to the room that had preceded the courtroom, the one where they had battled the onslaught of prisoner shadows. Where the entrance to that room had once stood, a glowing doorway was now standing.

"Let's go, then. Can you walk, Terezi?"

Terezi nodded. "Yeah. Just a little tired." she answered, getting up to her feet.

As the group entered the room, they heard familiar laughter. Vriska immediately readied her dice and summoned Arachne. "Gamzee, come out so I can smear the walls with you!" she shouted angrily.

Gamzee stepped out from behind the glowing door with his flaming clubs still in hand. "What's good?"

"That's all you have to say?" John asked. "Why are you forcing people in here?"

"This fucker thinks I'm gonna spill everything just cause he asks." Gamzee mused with a chuckle, shaking his head. "Couldn't just let sis here be all buddy buddy with her shadow, ya know? It's more fun for everybody when everything goes motherfuckin' haywire."

"This is your idea of fun?" Dave asked, crossing his arms. "Couldn't you just go torture a few woodland animals like a normal insane person and leave us alone?"

Gamzee laughed aloud. "Who says I ain't doin' that now, huh? Besides, this game is way more motherfuckin' fun, bro. It's a game I intend to fuckin' win. And I'm gonna drag you motherfuckers along whether you know it or not!" he shouted, readying his clubs.

Dave and the others readied their weapons, prepared for Gamzee's attack, but an attack never came. Gamzee grinned and struck the ground instead, a puddle of blackness forming at the site where his club struck the ground.

"Is he summoning a Shadow?" John asked, his warhammer gripped tight.

"Why don't y'all handle this? Y'all could use the motherfuckin' experience the next time we run into each other!" Gamzee shouted, leaping back into the glowing door as the puddle began to grow and form into a larger figure. Once it finished growing and morphing, the liquid blackness dripped away from the figure inside, revealing a massive, stone, statue-like shadow carrying a sword and a scale.

"Is a break so much to fucking ask for?" Dave shouted, readying his blade and summoning Yatagarasu for a change of pace. The others readied their Personas as well, save for Terezi.

The statue swung its sword in a sweeping motion, forcing the John and Dave to duck as they approached the shadow. Vriska, Rose, and Roxy stayed back, as their attacks didn't require them to get close.

Dave had Yatagarasu shoot a bolt of lightning at the shadow. The bolt struck but the shadow didn't flinch at all. "Lightning's no good!" Dave announced.

Terezi "watched" as the group launched various attacks that had absolutely no effect on the massive shadow. Suddenly the card that she had accepted earlier appeared before her. Instinctively she reached out and grabbed it, shattering the card and summoning Athena behind her.

Vriska whirled around. "Terezi, what are you doing?"

Terezi stood up and turned to Athena, who lowered herself and wrapped her held blindfold around Terezi's eyes. The blindfold began glowing, and Terezi grinned. "You'll see!" she announced, running forward with Athena right behind her. "Because I can see!"

Vriska's eyebrow quirked. "You can see?"

"Yes! That shadow there can't be harmed by what they're throwing at it. You'll need to use a spell of darkness. 'Mudo' is what it's called, I think." Terezi told Vriska.

"How can you tell?" Vriska asked.

"I can just see it, alright?" Terezi responded. "I think you're the only one here that can use Mudo. Show me what you've got, sis!"

Vriska looked at Terezi silently for a moment. "Alright. I trust you." she said with a nod, raising her hand to command Arachne.

Dave narrowly avoided the statue's next sword strike. Their attacks were completely ineffective, and they couldn't just walk around the shadow while it completely blocked off the exit door. Just as he readied himself for another strike, Dave saw a purple flame appear before the shadow's face. After a short moment of burning, the flame exploded and took the shadow with it, leaving the way to the doorway open.

Dave turned back to Vriska and was surprised to see Terezi utilizing her Persona. "How did you know to do that?"

"We can talk more about it when we get Terezi out of here!" Vriska said, catching Terezi as she collapsed again from the exertion. "Come on!"

Dave nodded and stepped through the door, letting the others follow him out.

Dave jolted back awake as he regained consciousness in the real world. He turned to check the clock: 7:15 AM. They had been inside the computer for barely an hour, apparently. The others in the dorm had probably already left, though they might have not even made it to class yet.

Vriska was the next to wake. She instantly placed her laptop aside and made her way to the front door. "I'll be right back!" she announced, running out to get Terezi.

Everyone else was awake when Vriska and Terezi returned to the dorm. They were hornless and fair-skinned once again.

After filling Terezi in about everything that had happened and the basics of what they knew about the world and their Personas, the group allowed Terezi to ask questions.

"I really don't get why we looked different." Terezi said. "Well, according to all of you, anyway. I wish I could see these horns myself."

"Didn't your Persona let you see, though?" Vriska asked.

"Sort of." Terezi answered. "I guess I couldn't call it 'seeing' like all you can. I see a lot of colors and from that... I guess I can tell what the enemy is weak to or strong against. It's difficult to explain fully."

"Sounds like an invaluable skill." Rose commented. "With Terezi's help, we could be far more effective against any enemies we encounter. Particularly since Dave possesses the skill to use just about any elemental attack."

"Jeez, no pressure, right?" Dave said. "But I guess you're right. Still, I can't just do this all by myself. Switching Personas isn't as easy as you'd think. I have to concentrate."

"Of course, I didn't mean we'd be leaving it all up to you." Rose clarified. "You're simply the greatest asset in battle we currently have. Not to discount the rest of us, of course."

"It'd be really baller if we could have had Dirk in there." Roxy commented. "He's the strongest of all of us. He doesn't have Dave's versatility, but he was able to crush Jane's shadow like it was nothin'."

"We'll have to take him next time then." John said. "I don't want to have to struggle again like we did today. If Dave hadn't pulled off that awesome ice move, we'd have been goners."

"Yeah, speaking of which..." Dave muttered, wincing. "I'm still worn out as hell. I don't think I'm going to show up today at all. I feel like I can barely walk."

"I assume that expending energy in the computer world takes its toll in the real world as well." Rose deducted. "We'll need to be careful about that."

The others nodded.

"Terezi, we should get back." Vriska said. "You could use some rest."

Terezi nodded tiredly.

"We'll talk more when we aren't all feeling like shit." Dave added. "Something needs to be figured out. I've got Gamzee on the brain, specifically."

"You and me think alike, then." Vriska answered. "I'll see you guys later."

John waved. "Bye, Vris!"

Vris cracked a smile and waved back, exiting with Terezi.

With a groan, Dave stretched himself out on the sofa. "Wake me up in a few hours." he said to no one in particular. "I feel like I haven't laid down in years."

John nodded. "I guess we should go to school. We can just say we overslept."

Rose stood from her seat. "Yes, that would be best. We've got about five minutes until the first bell rings at 7:30. We might make it if we hurry."

Roxy giggled. "One tardy won't kill you!" she told the others as she strode out the door. John and Rose followed her out, leaving Dave alone in the dorm to take a much-needed nap.


	15. Chapter 15 - Second Chance

Dave awoke to the familiar presence of the Velvet Room. It felt real this time, unlike his previous nightmare. The familiar singing rang true, though the room seemed emptier than before; Igor was present as always in his seat, but Margaret was gone.

"Welcome to the Velvet Room." Igor said as he always did. "I have called you here to discuss the challenge presented to you in recent times, and what you can do to overcome it."

Dave sat comfortably in his seat. "No cryptic messages this time? You're actually going to tell me what to do?"

"Not precisely." Igor responded, leaning forward. "I am here to present you with information and guidance for you to ponder on your own time. I am doing my best to fit my role as your guide through your journey, and as such, I must apologize for the vagueness of my statements, but their meanings shall become clear to you in time. Perhaps they can give you insight to future occurrences."

"Yeah, I get that." Dave replied with a nod. He decided to be at least a little more courteous to Igor; after all, the guy was just doing his job. "Sorry for going off on you that time, by the way."

Igor held up his hand. "There is no need to apologize. You are... far more animated than our previous guests. It is this animation that makes your bonds develop so easily."

"Who were your previous guests, anyway? There are other people using Personas out there?" Dave asked.

"Our previous guests all had stories and bonds of their own. They protected those they loved, sought the truth in the midst of lies. It is not my place to divulge details on their lives and journeys, but suffice to say that you shall be among them in greatness and in the strength of your bonds." Igor replied. "We invite only those with great potential. Those with the power to harness the bonds that create their 'world'. I have no doubts that you are capable of such, and it is my duty to guide you to that end."

"Well. If it has to be me, then I guess I can't skip out on doing what I have to do." Dave muttered. "I still think some of the others would be better at this hero business, but I'm not going to pussy out if no one else can do it."

"Your desire to protect the bonds you have forged is admirable. It is one of the things that gives you such strength."

"Oh, by the way, before we get on with what you called me here for. Where's the babe in blue, what's-her-face?" Dave asked.

"Margaret is... absent. She shall not return for some time." Igor responded, looking down. "She is out dealing with family matters, to bring one she loves dearly back to where she belongs. Of that, I can say no more. Suffice to say, you and I shall be the only inhabitants of this room for the remainder of your journey."

Dave nodded, not expecting exact details. "Well, that's family for you, I guess. I'll leave Velvet business with Velvet people. So what's the deal with you calling me this time? You said you can help me with what's coming up?"

"Ah, yes. As I have said before, you bonds are your strength. It is up to you to use this strength to face your opposition." Igor went on. "Your enemy threatens not only yourself, but those you keep close, and the ones they hold close as well. How far are you willing to go to save as many as you can?"

"Anything." Dave replied plainly, trying not to get angry again. "I know that sounds like cheap talk, but I fucking mean it."

"Your sincerity and dedication is admirable. I do not doubt you. Please take it into consideration, however, that your bonds do not only povide strength in the form of raw power in battle." Igor clarified. "Your bonds will also give you the strength you need to make difficult decisions, decisions that may directly affect those you care for."

"No pressure, right?" Dave uttered simply.

"As I said, how you utilize your bonds as your strength is up to you." Igor continued. "Remember, entering this room means that you have signed a contract. You understand that you are to take responsibility for all you own actions. That which is done, is done."

"Yeah. I get that." Dave affirmed.

"Your enemy possesses great power." Igor said. "But your free will, the support of those around you shall be your strength. I wished for you to be warned that a great catastrophe lies in your future. The arcana of the Wheel of Fortune will remind you that progression through time is a series of ups and downs. Without terrible events, miracles would lose their significance, and vice-versa. This universal truth is the message behind your arcana. Such is your power; you have the means to facilitate a change in fortune, to bring light where there is darkness."

"Wow. You make me sound important, man." Dave mused with a smile.

"More so than you realize." Igor affirmed. "But that is all that I shall tell you for now. You have recently overcome a great obstacle through masterful use of your Personas. You have earned a time of rest, but remember that strife and difficulties shall follow. Such is the nature of the Wheel. I wish you... good fortune."

Dave smirked. "You've got jokes, man. Never though you had it in ya."

Igor did not respond, rather simply giving his signature creepy grin as Dave drifted away from the Velvet Room and back into consciousness.

In the blackness that was the transition between consciousness and unconsciousness, Dave heard a ringing; the same ringing noise that accompanied his social link messages in his mind. However, he heard no voice as he normally did. He could see a card, though it was rather different from the others he had seen from his social links. The card was lined with gold, numbered 'XX', and featured what looked like an Egyptian figure with a rod and headdress. No voice called out to him to tell him what the Arcana was called, and he felt no warmth when the card disappeared.

Dave had no time to think of an explanation before he returned to a waking state.

The clock on the wall was the first thing Dave looked at when he awoke. It was around 1 PM: everyone would be getting off of school in about an hour. He had slept far longer than he had intended.

Groaning, Dave got to his feet and pondered on what to do with himself when everyone got back. The damage done by the Labor Day event was still being felt. Jade probably still didn't want to talk to him, and at this rate, Egbert would be getting laid before he did. The entire world was flipping upside down.

Dave needed some tunes to calm his restless mind, and thus he ventured up to his room for a moment to retrieve the necessary tools of the trade. Minutes later, Dave had his laptop and his turntables wired up to his high-powered speakers. It was enough to get Helen Keller to start doing line dances, as Dave would put it.

A few samples and a regrettably turned-down volume knob later, Dave had turned the dorm into the musical equivalent of a very cozy club. The music was good enough on its own, and with his hands on the tables, Dave felt in control. It was one of the few times he felt as such, and it was a good feeling. The doubts that the rest of the world gave faded away when Dave was in his happy place at the turntables.

It was only when someone stepped through the door did Dave realize how long her had been messing around with his music. Jade, John and Rose entered the dorm with looks of surprise on their faces. Jade smiled for a moment before turning away from direct eye contact with Dave, passing him up as she retreated up to her room.

Dave groaned, rubbing his forehead. Once again, the female species found a way to completely confound him. He had to do something, but talking her seemed quite impractical at the moment.

"John, hey. Got a question for you." Dave shouted, having to raise his voice to be heard above his jams.

John approached and leaned in so that Dave could talk into his ear.

"Who's that Japanese chick that Jade likes? The singer with the reddish hair, you know?" Dave asked, turning the volume of the music down a bit.

John thought for a moment before whipping out his phone, doing a quick web search. "This is Risette, or Rise Kujikawa." he stated, showing Dave a picture. "Is this who you're talking about?"

"That's the name. Thanks." Dave responded. He was probably one of the only people on the planet that wouldn't remember the name of the famous idol that had recently taken the western world by storm as she did her home country, sparking an interest in eastern pop music throughout the US. She had quickly replaced the wimpy teenage boys as the main cultural focus of middle-school aged kids, and frankly, Dave welcomed the change. At least this Rise chick could actually sing.

At any rate, the idol's songs were not difficult to find, and soon enough Dave had one of her recent hits playing on his laptop, and through use of his digital turntable, he was able to mess with and scratch it. John smiled, realizing what Dave was trying to do, and left his friend to his devices.

Jade descended to the lounge a few minutes later, holding her wrist as if nervous. Dave immediately lowered the volume as he saw her.

"Dave?" Jade asked. "Can we... talk?"

"Yeah, sure." Dave confirmed, unplugging his speakers instead of searching for the power button. "Take a walk?"

Jade nodded, still keeping from eye contact. Dave took the initiative and opened the front door, holding it for her to walk out.

Dave and Jade walked in silence through the sun-lit campus, awkwardly avoiding eye contact. The whole process was absolutely agonizing for Dave, who formulated countless smooth lines to deliver but could never settle on one. As they walked past a relatively unpopulated area in the shade of some trees, Jade finally broke the silence with a deep breath. "Dave?"

"Yeah, Jade?" Dave asked, a concerned tone in his voice.

"You can call me Harley, you know." she said, huffing slightly.

"Yeah, and I can call you Jade too. That's the cool thing about having two names."

"You see, this is what I was worried about." Jade admitted, sighing. "I... The reason I ran away after... well... that... is because I realized how different you acted around me once we started acting flirty. We've only known each other outside of the internet for a month at most. And... I'm just scared."

"Scared of what?" Dave asked.

"That!" Jade exclaimed. "Look, it's kinda hard to explain, but... Since you've got here and we've got closer, you've been treating me differently... And I'm just afraid that if we get any closer, the friendship at the core of all this would just keep changing... until it's not there anymore. I mean... I like you because you're you. You know? You never seemed like the caring sort, I guess... I was used to you not acting all sympathetic, I was used to you trying to crack a joke when I was sad. It usually worked, too."

"Aw, shit, Harley..." Dave muttered, taking a seat on a bench. "I... uh... I'm not exactly sure what to say really. But I get where you're coming from."

"Do you really?" Jade asked, sitting beside him. "I'm not asking you to act unlike how you want to... I'm scared of us changing. I don't want to be a stereotypical couple or anything... You're anything but typical, after all."

"I really do, though." Dave answered. "I'm not a different person when I act like that, you know. It's just another side of me, I guess. Rose lectured me on Jungian philosophy the other day and she makes a good point; this whole Persona deal that we have to deal with? Outside of those giant things we use to beat the shit out of shadows, that Jung guy said a Persona is like a mask we use to face our day-to-day fights and stuff, you know? It's not a lie, and it's not the only part of us. It's just one part. That's what this is like. I'm not changing. I'm just showing you another side of myself, you know? And you of all people should know how that's a pretty big fucking deal for me."

Jade smiled the entire time Dave was talking. "Just... let your original self show a lot too, please?"

"Duh, of course. You can't turn the Strider off."

Jade giggled for a bit, then took another deep breath. "I'm... sorry for running away at the party."

"It ain't no thing, l'il mama." Dave said, sitting back against the bench.

"No... it really was." Jade said, sniffling slightly. "It... that could have been a really great moment and... and... I just kinda ruined it by running away... Dave, I'm... I'm sorry."

Dave's eyes widened as he noticed that Jade had begun weeping softly. His mind immediately set off alarms as he sat up to look at her. There were few things that could strike fear into the heart of Strider, but having to deal with Jade crying was one of them. Delicate situations were not Dave's forte, and this situation was the emotional equivalent of playing catch with an antique porcelain doll.

The first and only thing that came to mind was to scoot over and hold her. That's what you're supposed to do with crying people, right? Dave did just that, wrapping her in a tight hug as she cried into his shoulder. He couldn't think of anything to say; the generic "It's okay" and "Let it all out" phrases seemed too cliche, so he decided that his hug would suffice despite the silence.

Jade shuddered as her crying slowed. "I'm sorry, Dave..."

"You've got nothing to be sorry about, alright?" Dave responded. "Look, I'm not good at this kind of shit either. Anyone who's actually good at romantic shit is not human. So... don't apologize. We both fucked up, but it's cool now that it's all out on the table."

"Y-yeah." Jade agreed, pulling away from the hug. "You're right. I'm sorry for freaking out..."

"From this point onwards I'm decreeing 'sorry' to be a very, very dirty swear word. So hush with that, alright?" Dave stated, smiling.

Jade giggled aloud and wiped her eyes. "I'm so- I mean... Umm... Where do we go from here?"

"What do you want?" Dave asked.

"A second chance to make up for dashing yesterday." Jade answered.

"Your wish is my command, Harley." Dave responded, leaning in and kissing her once more; this time with no intent to let her go.


	16. Chapter 16 - Whiteboard Strategizing

Rose gathered everyone in their dorm the following afternoon after classes. Dave was rather surprised when he entered the lounge, as Rose had a rather elaborate diagram set up on a whiteboard with symbols drawn on it, representing several classical elements. In addition, every Persona-user's name was written on it. Dave's name was circled.

"Good afternoon." Rose announced once everyone had gathered. "I asked you all to be here today to discuss our strategy in the Computer world. With our enemies becoming stronger, it will be useful to know not only their weaknesses and strengths, but our own as well. With Terezi's help, I was able to figure a few facets of our Persona abilities and was able to lay them out on a chart."

Terezi smiled and waved as her name was mentioned.

"You will notice that each of these symbols represent an element that we use when attacking with our Personas. Each has a name; you may have found yourself uttering it when performing such an attack. 'Agi', or fire. 'Bufu', or ice. 'Zio', or lightning. 'Garu', or wind. 'Mudo', or darkness. 'Hama', or light. In addition, physical attacks can be considered a sort of element on their own. Support spells seem to exist as well, such as 'Dia', which is used to heal."

"So why did you write our names out?" Dave asked.

"I'm glad you asked" Rose replied, smiling. It was all too clear that she was really enjoying this. "I wrote our names to list off our respective strengths and weaknesses. My theory is that when we summon our Personas, we take on aspects of them as our own. We gain inhuman strength, supernatural resistance to damage, and in some cases, resistance and weaknesses to certain elements. When our Personas take damage, we suffer it as well, and vice versa. They are, after all, another side of us."

"So you called us up to discuss what our strengths and weaknesses are, right?" Jade questioned, excited as well. She seemed to be happier and giddier than usual, though no one but Dave knew why.

"That's correct. I'll go down the list, starting from Dave, who is a rather special case." Rose stated, looking at Dave.

"Because of the multiple Personas, right?" Dave guessed.

"Very correct. Our Personas are our strength and our weakness, but you possess the ability to change your Persona mid-battle and adapt your strengths and weaknesses to adapt to the situation. This makes you far stronger than the rest of us. That is why we cannot enter the computer world without you leading us."

Next, Rose pointed to Terezi. "Terezi, too, is a special case. Though her Persona has a few strengths; Strong versus Hama and Mudo and weak to Agi; her Persona is less oriented towards battle and far more useful in a support position. Her Persona possesses the power to scan our enemies and reveal their weaknesses, which will be vital to our success. Therefore, entering the computer world without Terezi is also foolhardy at best."

Rose herself was next on the list. "My Persona specializes in the use of magic, and is strong versus Hama, while being weak to Mudo. It seems that though I have no particular strength or weakness to the Zio element, I can still use Zio spells. I assume that one's Persona doesn't require a strength to be able to use a certain element, but those with a strength towards an element are almost guaranteed to possess spells of that element."

Next was John. "John, your Persona is quite balanced between physical and magical attacks. It is strong versus Garu, and weak versus Bufu. It appears you also have some healing capability as well."

John nodded in confirmation as Rose moved on to Jade.

"Jade, your Persona is very strong in the use of magic, perhaps the strongest of all of us so far. Though you are resistant to Bufu and weak to Agi, your Persona's true talent lies in healing spells."

Rose moved on from the four Juniors and moved on to the seniors, the original Persona users of the group. "We'll begin with Roxy, who is rather balanced like John. Strong versus Bufu, weak versus Zio."

Roxy nodded, taking a teeny sip of a martini then placing it aside to return her hands to her computer. It seemed now that her turn was passed, she didn't really need to listen any longer.

"Next, Jane, who is a strong healer like Jade. Strong versus Agi, weak versus Garu." Rose said, moving her pointing stick down to Jake.

"Jake, your strength lies in your Persona's physical attacks. It still has properties however; strong to Zio, weak to Bufu."

Jake nodded, sitting rather close to Dirk.

"Dirk's Persona is apparently unusually high-powered, with more resistances than most of us. It excels in defense and endurance, and it resists Zio, Hama, and physical attacks. However, it is weak to Agi." Rose said, marking down a plus for each resistance and a minus sign for each weakness.

"Lastly, we have Vriska." Rose concluded, trying to keep a venomous tone out of her voice. "Vriska's Persona is rather odd, as is her weapon. It is proficient in all aspects of battle, but apparently has a higher affinity with 'luck', if you believe in such. Besides that, strong to Bufu and Hama, weak to Garu and Mudo."

Dave's eyebrows rose. "How did you and Rezi figure this out?"

Rose smiled. "A short visit to the computer world so that she could use her Persona." she replied, proud of all her work.

"Sweet, then." Dave responded. "Now we know more than absolutely nothing. Better than before, anyway."

"I agree." Vriska stated, patting John's thigh and standing up. "Well… me and Terezi better get back. I kind of want to keep an eye on the others. Just in case, ya know?"

"Got it." Dave affirmed, standing up and looking at Terezi. "Welcome to the team." He said, offering his hand out. He stood there looking like an idiot for a few seconds before remembering that she was blind.

Terezi smiled, never shaking Dave's hand. "Thanks! I'll try and help out as I can."

"Cool." Dave responded, withdrawing his hand nonchalantly. As Terezi and Vriska exited the building, he heard a sharp ring in his head. A new social link.

"I am thou.

Thou art I.

The bonds that you forge will become your strength.

You shall receive a blessing when creating Personas of the Justice Arcana."

Dave recognized the card that appeared, the card that appeared when Terezi used her Persona for the first time. It faded away and Dave returned to his normal senses.

"Dave? You alright?" Jade asked, looking up at him.

"Yeah… just kinda phased out for a sec." Dave answered, then realizing that he needed to talk to Jade more about where they were going with what was apparently going to be a relationship. "Uh… you got time to talk?"

"With you? Of course, dummy." Jade replied, grinning. "Outside?"

"Yeah." Dave answered.

"So, what's this about?" Jade asked as she and Dave stepped outside and sat beside him on a bench.

"Just wanted to set a few things straight, know what's official and all, ya know?" Dave replied. "People tend to assign terms and shit to the different 'stages' or relationships and it's usually all terms pulled out of people's asses."

"I see what you mean." Jade said with a nod. "So… what are we?"

"I don't know." Dave admitted. "Where do you see this going?"

"I think it's going pretty good." Jade replied, smiling. "Though I wouldn't mind being able to hold your hand in public. Where do you want this to go?"

"Shit, as far as you want it, I guess." Dave answered, admittedly not very good at this kind of thing.

"Weeellll…" Jade said, rolling her eyes. Before Dave could react, Jade stretched out on the bench and rested her head on his lap, looking up at him. "I think I'll just lay here and call myself your girlfriend until you make up your mind."

"Oh." Dave muttered, his face nearly as red as his shirt. "That works. Hell, that's fucking awesome. Yeah, let's do that."

"Anything you wouldn't want me doing?" Jade asked.

"Uh… Hand holding is fine. Just… let's make sure we're not in public if we start making out or something."

"Anywhere else is fine though, right?" Jade asked, a mischievous grin on her face.

"Yeah. Yeah, that's fine." Dave uttered back, still trying to keep his composure. How Jade was being so calm in this situation was completely beyond him.

"Good. How are we gonna tell everyone?"

"Let them find out, I guess?" Dave guessed.

"Good, I like it." Jade giggled. "I doubt it'll take anyone very long though."

"Why do you say that?"

"Well… there's no one around right now… Would you consider us 'in public'?" Jade asked, placing a hand on Dave's shoulder.

"No, I guess not."

Jade said nothing, instead pulling herself up by Dave's shoulders up to his lips. They closed their eyes and let the heat of the moment take over their actions.

Dave DID agree to making out when not in public, after all, and if this were any indication, then it wasn't a bad agreement to make at all.

John sat with a book in his hands, facing away from the window of the dorm. Similarly, Rose was working with a needle and thread, fashioning herself a phone cozy. Why a phone would need a cozy was anyone's guess, but that didn't stop Rose.

"Do you think they don't know that we know yet?" John asked, not even looking up from his book.

"Probably not." Rose replied, focused on her knitting.

"Should we let them know that we know?"

"Absolutely not." Rose replied, grinning.


	17. Chapter 17 - That's The Power Of Love

October fell within a few days, bringing with it slightly colder weather and more rigorous classes. Now that everyone was acclimated, teachers wasted no time in getting into the full swing of their lessons. Essays and quizzes piled up upon each other, and the students took more joy in spending time with each other away from their studies.

Dave and Jade's obvious attraction to each other was already known by pretty much everyone who cared, and news of their relationship spread quickly as expected. This was of little consequence to either of them, and they carried on as if no one else could see them.

The relative peace was shattered one afternoon after school. Dave, Jade and Rose were lounging around in the aptly-named lounge when Vriska came through the dorm's door with a shocked look on her face and John in tow. "He got Nepeta and Equius."

"Son of a bitch." Dave muttered. "I think it's pretty obvious that he's targeting you guys. Wasn't anyone watching?"

"I have to sleep, asshole!" Vriska retorted, her stress attributing to her choice of words more than Dave's question. "Sorry, I didn't mean that. But seriously, there's nothing I can do! If Gamzee can fucking warp places and take over people's minds, then I can't really stop him."

"I get it, I get it. Sorry about that." Dave answered. "Then we'd better get in there. How long has it been?"

"I went to bed around midnight and they were both still up around then. They're usually the first two to wake up, but when I went downstairs I didn't see them. I figured that they must have overslept, but they never showed up for school, so I checked on them when I got back. They're in comas in their rooms as we speak. So it's been a few hours."

"Then we don't have any time to lose!" John affirmed.

"Agreed. Let's call everyone down and decide on a team once we're inside." Rose said, running upstairs to retrieve her laptop. Dave pulled his own out and powered it on; Nepeta and Equius' situation was confirmed by a notification on Dave's screen, similar to the one that appeared when Vriska was in the computer world.

Everyone met on the lounge floor, save for Roxy who was busy with getting the van she shared with Jake, Dirk, and Jane fixed. After a quick assessment of the situation, everyone entered the Gateway Code and entered the computer world.

Once inside Asphodel, the group sought out the doors belonging to Equius and Nepeta. They had never had to save two people before, but they assumed that they would have to split up. It was also noted that Vriska and Terezi had once again taken on heir horned, grey-skinned appearances once they were inside the computer.

To their surprise, there was only one door to be found, with both of their names on it. The world was apparently titled "Leatherbound Lair".

"I hesitate to wonder what's beyond that door." Rose said. "Dave, you can only take four of us plus Terezi. Who will go with you?"

"Why are you asking me? You're the one with the strategies laid out." Dave responded defensively, throwing his hands up.

"Yes, but if you're going to lead us in the world, it's best you pick a team that you feel comfortable leading."

"Shit, no pressure then." Dave said, turning his head and scanning the group. "Um… Well… Jake, Dirk and Jade. You guys didn't go last time, so you're with me. Rose, you've got a lot of knowledge about all of this, we could use you. We've got someone strong against pretty much everything that way."

"Awww." John muttered. Vriska sneered a little as well.

"Very well. The rest of the group will wait here. If something happens to someone, send them back and one of the others will try to take their place." Rose answered. "Let's head inside."

"Roger that." Dave responded, looking to those following them in. "Let's head in then."

Followed by the others, Dave opened the door and entered Equius and Nepeta's world.

Dave took a deep breath as his vision came into focus. The area they were in looked like dimly-lit basement, adorned with various skimpy pieces of leather clothing used in the kind of bed-play people only hear about in comedy movies. In addition, whips, ball gags, and a few chokers were hung as well.

"I think I'm gonna be sick." Dave muttered, looking at the room in surprise and disgust.

Dirk spied a gas mask on the wall and looked over to Jake with a nod and a smirk. Jake responded in turn with a quick punch to the shoulder.

Rose immediately turned red as she saw the decoration, tucking her hands in her pockets and keeping her head down.

Jade was red in the face as well, though obviously not as disturbed as poor Rose was. Terezi seemed unfazed, probably because she lacked eyesight.

"Let's… just go." Dave said, materializing his katana. Dirk nodded as if in approval, gripping his fist to summon a katana of his own. Jake took hold of a pair of pistols, while Jade and Rose brought their weapons into their hands.

"What are you all doing? I'm hearing noises." Terezi asked.

"Try gripping your hand, Terezi." Dirk said. "You'll end up with a weapon in your hands. No way to tell what it'll be until you try it."

Terezi shrugged and did what she was instructed to do. In her hand appeared a tapping stick typically used for blind people such as herself to get around. Instead of the usual black and white simple design, however, the cane was teal and red with a small dragon's head at the top. Terezi felt the cane and tugged on the top, revealing a hidden blade.

"That's pretty badass." Dave said admiringly, a little jealous. Still, a katana was pretty cool and quite serviceable. "Anyway, let's get on with it. Terezi, you're not missing much."

Terezi giggled and summoned her Persona. Athena appeared behind her and wrapped the blindfold around Terezi's eyes, allowing her to 'see' to an extent. The others followed suit and summoned their own Personas.

Dave had not yet seen Dirk's Ozymandias and Jake's Odysseus. Ozymandias was a stereotypical king-like figure, a robed man with a white beard and a shining crown. He sat in a golden, floating throne.

Odysseus, on the other hand, looked like a man who had been stranded on an island for many years. His face sported a scraggly, unkempt beard, and his clothes appeared handmade and worn. He carried rope around his shoulder and a fishing spear in his right hand.

Once everyone's Personas were readied, Dave led the walk out of the basement. The door led to a hallway, as was the usual with the dungeon structure that the group was used to. The halls were similarly decorated to the room they had just exited, which contributed to the feeling of secondhand embarrassment that the group felt.

"I wonder if all this stuff is from Equius' heart or Nepeta's…" Jade muttered. "I'm not sure which is less disturbing. It's kinda hard to picture little Nepeta like this… and it hurts my brain just THINKING about Equius like this."

Rose, usually talkative, kept quiet, trying to avert her eyes from the walls.

The group heard a skitter that echoed throughout the halls.

"Shadows?" Dirk asked, readying his sword as Ozymandias swiveled around.

Indeed, an odd wheel-shaped Shadow rolled into view. The shadow resembled a jet-black-skinned man chained up and tied upside-down onto a spiked wheel. The standard mask that all shadows wore was a little different, with a zipper in place of a mouth.

"I fucking hate this place." Dave muttered as more similar shadows rolled into view.

"Ditto." Rose muttered.

Jake was first to act, firing off two shots at the closest shadow. The bullets bounced off completely and flew into Odysseus, who recoiled slightly.

"Give me a second before you attack blindly, idiot!" Terezi shouted, rather harshly. She just seemed to be that kind of person. Her blindfold glowed as she scanned the group of enemies.

The shadows sent gusts of wind at the group as they prepared their respective attacks. Rose did her best to dodge the gusts as they were her weakness, but was knocked away when a stray blast hit her.

Terezi's glowing blindfold faded back to its' usual non-brightness. "I've got it! Don't use physical attacks, try ice!"

"Oh, hell yes!" Dave shouted, switching out Titan and calling on his Magician arcana, summoning Jack Frost. With a nod to Jade, Dave unleashed a hail of icicles on the group of enemies, accompanied with shattering blocks of ice from Jade.

The shadows' wheels spun out of control and fell to the ground, completely defenseless. "Now's your chance!" Terezi called, raising her cane and pointing.

"You got it!" Dave shouted, charging off with the others. Once close enough, the entire group unleashed magical attacks of all sorts while the enemy was down. The all-out attack was more than enough to wipe out the group and send them into a cloud of black smoke.

"Well, that works for strategy, huh?" Dave asked. "Knock their asses down and then proceed to kick said asses."

"I wouldn't put it so crudely, but yes. That seems to be adequate to dispose them." Rose replied, smiling at Dave's choice of words.

"Terezi, you definitely make this a lot easier!" Jade said, smiling at Terezi. Terezi giggled and smiled from the compliment.

"Yeah, I doubt we'll have many issues with backup like that." Dirk agreed. "How much farther you think until we reach those two?"

"Usually the dungeons are a lot of walking accompanied by occasional squads of shadows. I think that was the 'big one'. Though we had a really rough one in Terezi's place… but maybe that was because of Gamzee being there." Dave replied. Terezi hissed at the mention of Gamzee.

"At any rate, we should get to Nepeta and Equius. Chances are that their Shadows won't start seriously attacking their emotions until we arrive, but we'd better hurry regardless."

"Best idea I've heard all day!" Jake said, fidgeting. "This place really makes me quite knackered. All we've got to do is find those two, then Bob's your uncle!"

"Um. Yeah. What he said, except in English." Dave said, leading the way further down the hallway.

After a few twists and turns and a couple of easily-dispatched shadow squads, Dave and company arrived at a large door, characteristic of the place where the unregistered person (or people, in this case) were kept alongside their Shadow. The door was similar to the others in the dungeon, seeming to be made of cheap wood, but in reality being quite sturdy. Jake was able to easily break down the door using Odysseus, leading the way to where Nepeta and Equius were being kept.

They arrived in another basement-room, though it was exceptionally large compared to the last one; likely to make room for the inevitable fight. Equius sat in the center with Nepeta wrapped in her arms, as if trying to protect her from an unexpected attack. As Dave had expected, they both had grey skin and horns like Terezi and Vriska. Nepeta's horns resembled cat ears, while Equius' horns looked like arrows.

"Ah! And here come more to witness the fall of the puppeteer and his dear puppet!" called out a voice; Dave guessed it to be Equius' shadow.

"No time for monologues, asshole. Show your face then turn around so we can kick your ass." Dave shouted.

As if invited, Shadow Equius and Shadow Nepeta faded into view. Dave silently thanked his luck that they weren't fitted in BDSM gear, instead dressed in their normal clothing. Otherwise, he would have strongly considered leaving the dungeon immediately.

"Aw, let him continue." Shadow Nepeta said, a slight purr in her distorted voice. "What's the fun if you just attack right off the bat?"

"This one does not care much for fun though, does he?" Shadow Equius asked, kneeling down before Equius. "No, certainly not. You never seek to have fun. You have fun by controlling others and keeping them from doing what they like. Take your poor puppet, for example."

Equius sneered and let out a nearly inhuman growl at his shadow, holding Nepeta tighter. The act of defiance merely made their Shadows cackle.

"You will never let her go, will you?" Shadow Equius asked. "You tell her that it is for her own good and safety, but that is far from reality, is it not? You relish in having control. You crave the structure, the feeling of being in power. And yet you also crave the idea of being told what to do as well!"

Nepeta wept. "Stop!" she cried out. "Stop talking about him like that! We just want to leave!"

"Then we'll talk about you." Shadow Nepeta replied, sneering. "The lover of love. Profurssional matchmaker, master of shipping. But when it comes to love that involves yourself, you're just hopeless!"

Nepeta wailed as Equius tightened his hold on her.

"They all say it, don't they? 'Why not Equius?' 'You two are so close.' 'You would make a cute couple.' They just don't get it. Or, at least they think they don't."

Slowly, Nepeta turned to her Shadow. "Wh…what?"

"Why NOT Equius?" Nepeta asked, grinning evilly. "Always there… always watching over you… he'd be perfect, wouldn't he? Wouldn't submitting to him be easy? You're already a puppet in his hands… why not just go all the way?"

"That's… that's not how I feel at all!" Nepeta shouted, distancing herself a little bit from Equius' tight hold. "Equius is like my big brother. You say you're me, you should know that!"

Dave noticed that Nepeta wasn't using her usual cat puns, most likely due to her distress.

"I am you, sweetheart." Shadow Nepeta said, stroking her real self's chin. "Whether you care to admit it or not."

"Shall I take over?" Shadow Equius asked. "Where even to begin? How loosely you cling to your silly sense of structure? Some of those above you in status are such imbeciles… why do you respect them so? Why do you crave dominating so much, yet go right around and wish to be dominated at the same time?"

"Silence!" the real Equius shouted. "You say you are me, but that is a lie!"

"Yeah!" Nepeta shrieked. "And you're not me! I know how I feel!"

"Goddammit." Dave muttered. "You think at least some people would have their emotional lives in check."

Shadow Nepeta and Shadow Equius cackled and stepped away from their real selves, becoming engulfed in the characteristic red smoke. Before long, they gave way to their true shadow forms; Shadow Equius took on the form of a massive, shirtless, muscle-bound man wearing tight leather pants and a torture hood. In his right hand he held a whip, and in his left, he held a crop. The sight made the group (other than Terezi, of course) rather unesasy.

Shadow Nepeta, on the other hand, became a puppet-like creature that took on a feral, feline battle stance. Donned in similar leather clothing like Shadow Equius, she also sported a large cracked heart symbol on her chest. Her hands ended in large, deadly-looking claws, and she also possessed a whip-like black tail.

"I am a Shadow!" announced Shadow Equius as he cracked his whip.

"The true self!" Shadow Nepeta added, hissing and baring her claws.

"The world breaks everyone, and very few are left strong in the broken places!"

"Love never dies a natural death!"

Dave's eyebrow quirked. "What the hell does that even mean?"

"Enough talk! Raise your weapons and prepare to be put down like the dogs you are!" Shadow Equius shouted.

"Right back at you!" Dave retorted, calling on the power of his newly established arcana, Justice. "Dominion!"

Jack Frost faded away, and a robed man with angel wings holding scales and a tome appeared before Dave. The others, their Personas already prepared, readied themselves for the battle.

Dirk acted first, sending Ozymandias forward. The kingly Persona rose into the air and then slammed his throne onto the ground, sending a shockwave at Shadow Equius.

The shockwave hit Shadow Equius, but it seemed to do nothing; even worse, Shadow Equius groaned as if he relished in the pain.

Terezi had already begun scanning the enemies. "They're too powerful for me to see anything clearly! Just… don't attack Shadow Equius with physical attacks. I don't want to hear that sound again."

"Noted!" Dave shouted. He could tell his current Persona was more oriented towards supporting the others than directly attacking. "Matarukaja!" he shouted, the strange name coming to him subconsciously.

The rest of the group each got bathed in brief flashes of purple light. They all felt stronger in a way, as the spell increased their offensive capabilities.

Taking that as a cue, Jake commanded Odysseus to charge forward with his spear towards Shadow Nepeta. As he had hoped, the blow landed soundly and made Shadow Nepeta cry out in pain. Thankfully, she did not share Shadow Equius' affinity for physical abuse.

In retaliation for his partner's injury, Shadow Equius cracked his long whip and swung it, striking each of the Persona users with its long reach.

"Ah, shit!" Dave shouted as he felt the pain from the attack. His shirt was now ripped and he felt blood trickling down his arm from his shoulder. "I guess they get pissed if you attack the other!"

"Then we'll need to be prepared! Defend yourself!" Rose shouted, sending a bolt of lightning at Shadow Equius. He groaned in pain instead of pleasure as the shock caused him to convulse. Shadow Nepeta angrily stepped forward and sliced at the air, sending shockwaves from her claws at the group. The shockwaves were apparently wind-based, as they knocked Rose off of her feet when they struck her. The others had a chance to raise their guards as Rose had commanded.

"I think I see what she's going for!" Jade shouted, casting a healing spell to help Rose back to her feet. Have someone hit one of them, then have the rest of us brace for the counterattack!"

"You think you all have it figured out, do you?" Shadow Equius taunted and Shadow Nepeta raised her claw again, swinging it down as she casted a spell. A quick shine of light shone on Equius, repairing damage that he had suffered.

"I guess we're not the only ones who can heal." Dirk muttered.

"Yeah, no shit. Take Nep out first!" Dave commanded, switching Dominion out for Titan, who swung his sword hard enough to knock Shadow Nepeta to her feet. Everyone braced themselves for Equius' counterattack, which was performed with his crop this time. The attack was aimed at Dave alone, who had no time to bring up his guard.

"Shit!" Dave shouted as the attack struck Titan, hurting Dave as well. Jade concentrated and healed what she could, but Dave was still hurt more than the others despite her efforts. The battle was becoming one of attrition, much to Dave's irritation.

Shadow Nepeta slowly got back up, and before she could act, Jake had Odysseus cast his rope out to pull her close, impaling her on his spear when she was pulled close enough. Shadow Nepeta shrieked in pain, while Shadow Equius roared in anger. He rushed forward and tugged Shadow Nepeta off Odysseus' spear, then grabbed Jake and threw him hard against a wall before anyone could rush to his defense.

"Jake!" Dirk and Jade called out.

"Bloody hell…" Jake muttered as he pushed himself up from the floor after the heavily damaging impact. "Just… take care of the last one. I'll be fine!"

Indeed, Shadow Nepeta had dissipated after the concentrated and amplified physical assault ended with Jake's impaling, leaving Shadow Equius on his own. Despite his lack of support, however, he was still quite a dangerous opponent; he did, after all, incapacitate Jake easily in a single throw.

"Well, he's not gonna get beat down if we throw some physical attacks, so…" Dave muttered to himself, switching from Titan to Loki.

"Be careful this time!" Rose mentioned to Dave, referring to the time he had used Loki to wipe out the last Shadow onslaught they faced, in exchange for much of his stamina.

"Just hold him off of me!" Dave replied, charging up Loki's Niflheim attack.

"Just be careful!" Rose answered, continuing to pester Shadow Equius with bolts of lightning.

Jade dropped a large block of ice on Shadow Equius, causing significant damage. Once he recovered from his short bout of recoil, he turned his attention to her and reached out for her.

Alarmed, Dave stopped focusing on casting Niflheim and rushed in front of Jade, being grabbed up instead. Shadow Equius roared and tossed Dave into the wall as he did with Jake.

Dave's vision blurred and went red for a moment as he struck the wall and then fell to the ground. His whole body felt like it was vibrating like a tuning fork.

Jade gasped and then turned back to Shadow Equius, taking advantage of his distraction and dropping another, heavier block of ice onto him.

Shadow Equius looked up and raised his hands up to catch the block, trying to keep it from crushing him. Jade focused her Persona's power, gripping her fist tight as she forced the ice block down. Finally overpowered, Shadow Equius' strength gave way and he was crushed into black smoke by the massive ice block.

As soon as the threats were eliminated, the group rushed over to both Jake and Dave, who were still shook up from their trips to the wall. The real Nepeta and Equius, in the meantime, had regained consciousness and got to their feet.

Jade helped Dave to his feet and embraced him as she regained his senses. "Don't do that again, you hear me?"

"No promises." Dave muttered, his entire body still throbbing.

Dirk assisted Jake in getting up as well, while Rose and Terezi went over to Nepeta and Equius to help them accept their Shadow Selves.

"You have to accept them." Rose told them both. "It was as they said; they are another part of you, hidden deep in your mind whether you wish to admit it or not. They are your feelings and your doubts made apparent, and they will only go berserk again if you reject them."

Nepeta looked up at Rose and sighed, turning to her Shadow. "Um… hi. I still think you're wrong… But… you were right about some things. I'm not very good at this romance thing when it comes to myself. I do love Equius because he's like my big brother. Everyone telling me to just go with him just made me doubt myself more and made me desperate to have someone I could love too. But you don't need to be IN love with someone to love someone. You're me… you're the lies I kept telling myself."

Shadow Nepeta dissipated and took the form of a floating woman holding a bow, wearing a heart-shaped mask and maroon-colored robes. Her skin was a pale shade of pink, and her blonde hair went down past her shoulders.

"Eros." Nepeta muttered as the Persona faded into a card; the card of the Lovers, as Dave recalled.

Equius sighed and looked at his own shadow. "Then… I suppose you were not… completely wrong. Perhaps I have been a little too… controlling of Nepeta. I do it for her safety, but… perhaps there is a fine line somewhere that I should not cross. I… accept you as me."

Shadow Equius nodded and faded away. In his place stood a large, extraordinarily muscular man dressed like a gladiator. He wielded a pair of massive metal cestuses, each resembling a lion's head, that looked like enough to break down concrete with ease. "Heracles." Equius muttered as his Persona faded away into a card. Dave recognized it as the Strength tarot card.

Nepeta gasped for air and fell to her knees, as did Equius. As was expected, the computer world had taken a toll on them. Rose went to help up Nepeta, while Dirk helped Equius to his feet.

The exit door emitted a light to signal its' location. Wearily, the group exited the dungeon with both Nepeta and Equius in tow.

Dave awoke back in the lounge. Terezi, Rose, Jade, Jake and Dirk awoke as well, followed by John, Vriska, and Jane.

"Oh, good. You guys did it!" John exclaimed. "Vriska, Terezi, shouldn't you go check on them?"

Vriska rubbed her eyes. "Yeah. They should be awake by now. Let's go, Rezi."

Terezi nodded and followed Vriska out of the dorm. Jake groaned; Dave assumed that he, too, was still in pain from the battle. It was dulled, but it was still present in his whole body. Dave was going to be sore for a while.

Jade sat next to Dave. "You gonna be okay?"

"A stretcher would be nice." Dave muttered.

Frowning, Jade hugged him gently. "Seriously though, don't do that again."

"No promises." Dave said, shaking his head.

Rose turned her head. "There's still something that perplexes me."

"The thing about their skin and horns?" Dave asked.

"Yes." Rose confirmed. "You will notice that Gamzee is apparently only targeting the group of foreign exchange students. Each time they are in the computer world, they sport grey skin and differently shaped horns. Both features disappear once they return to the real world. I am unsure if this is a condition inflicted upon them by Gamzee… or just something else entirely."

"Who knows with that place?" Dirk said. "Pretty much nothing makes sense."

"I refuse to believe that it is just some random occurrence." Rose interjected. "Everything in that world falls into a pattern. The names of our Personas relating to deities fall into a pattern with our Arcana or our personalities. The elements we can use and resist fall into a pattern as well. That world may be foreign to us, but there is no doubt that it is structured and follows a strict set of rules. There is no doubt in my mind that there is a specific reason that the exchange students are inflicted with that peculiar appearance for a reason."

"I agree with Rose." John stated. "I don't see it so analytically, I guess, but I can see what she means by things falling into patterns. There's some kind of reason there. Maybe we'll find out sometime later."

"Can we just stop thinking and take a damn break?" Dave groaned. The dull aches in every bone of his body made him rather grumpy.

"I suppose that would be best, yes." Rose agreed, crossing her arms.

"I guess I'd better go check with Vris to see how they're doing." John said, standing up from his seat and dusting off his pants.

"You do that." Rose muttered, grabbing her laptop and making her way back up the stairs.

Jade laid her head on Dave's shoulder. "Thanks though. I didn't mean to complain about you jumping in front of me like that. I'm not ungrateful, I was just worried."

Dave said nothing.

"Dave? You okay?" Jade asked, looking up at Dave. Still he said nothing. Softly she removed his sunglasses, seeing that his eyes were closed and that he was fast asleep. Shaking her head with a smile, Jade placed Dave's sunglasses back on his face and then returned her head to his shoulder, closing her eyes for a nap as well.


	18. Chapter 18 - To Love A Dweeb

Vriska and Terezi brought Equius and Nepeta to the dorm the next day after school, intending to introduce them formally to the other Persona users.

"Welcome to Persona Headquarters, home of the Matrix-Wannabe Rescue Team." Dave announced as they entered the dorm. "Take a seat before they're all gone. We're starting to run out of room here."

Nepeta hurried over to the sofa, while Equius took a seat on one of the lounging chairs. Terezi poked around with her walking stick until she found a seat next to Nepeta and Rose. Vriska took her place next to John on the loveseat, taking his hand once she was situated. John grinned (like an idiot, as Dave would put it) and blushed.

Rose averted her gaze and turned to Dave. "Would you like to go over everything for our two newest members?"

"Vriskers told us everything already, actually." Nepeta clarified. "All about what Gamzee's doing, and what our Purrsonas are all about."

"Well. Glad she was able to do that." Rose said, putting on a fake smile.

"You're already involved enough to where you pretty much can't say no to what I'm about to ask." Dave interjected before Rose could start a catfight. "Do you wanna join us? Chances are Gamzee is going to attack again and grab one of you again. We can't do much to stop it if he can mind control people, but we can go in there and save whoever he grabs. If we keep at it, he might get bored and give up, or come and try to stop us directly."

"That's been bothering me, actually." Vriska said. "He knows we're in there at this point, he even dropped in Terezi's world. Why doesn't he just attack the root of the problem and get rid of us? If we weren't there, then the people who got thrown in would probably be killed. That's his goal, right?"

"Really, Vriska, if his goal was to kill you, I doubt he would use such complicated methods." Rose said. Dave braced himself for impact, hoping Rose could control herself. "I have a feeling that he's putting people in the computer world with full knowledge that they will be rescued, and that they will gain Personas when that occurs."

"What good does he get out of that, though?" John asked.

"Perhaps he is cultivating potential in them. He obviously has more knowledge about that world than we do. I wouldn't hesitate to assume that he knows who is capable of utilizing a Persona as well. He has lived with the other 11 since they arrived, after all." Rose answered. "For what purpose he is doing this, I am unsure. He had no direct interaction with myself, Jade, John, and Dave, as well as the seniors. He is specifically targeting the foreign exchange students."

"Not true." Dave argued. "He did have some interaction in my case. He told me about the code in the first place. On the plane, remember?"

"Ah, yes. I had nearly forgotten." Rose said. "But when you entered the code for the first time, you didn't become trapped in the world like we did."

"Neither did I." Jade said. "When I put the code in for the first time, I passed out and had that weird dream where I was falling until I grabbed my tarot card."

"I had a dream like that, actually!" John exclaimed. "I didn't have to put the code in to get it. It just happened when I was sleeping. The first time I did input the code, I was put into the computer world."

"That was the case with me as well." Rose pondered.

"Same with all of us, I think." Vriska noted. "Equius and Nepeta both said they had that dream."

"It was particularly memorable." Equius agreed. "I do not normally have many dreams, and those I do are usually forgotten by morning. That one, however, remained burned in my mind."

"It's a common factor, then." Rose dictated. "The dream of falling in a black space before reaching out to a card happens to every potential Persona user, even Dave. However, it seems to be triggered in different ways."

Jade scratched her chin. "I think I see what it is. If someone enters the code without having the dream first, they have the dream right there without entering the world. And if they have the dream in their sleep, then it opens up the world so they can be registered as a new user."

"I think she's right." Roxy confirmed. "We all had the dream first. It was something we didn't talk about until after I tried the code that I heard from a rumor."

"It wasn't Gamzee?" Dave asked.

"No. Just some random chick, I think. I can't really remember." Roxy answered.

"If he is really the mastermind behind all of this as we suspect, I would not put starting the rumor past him." Rose pointed out. "Perhaps only those who are potential Persona users can enter the world or have the dream in the first place."

"The question of why Gamzee would do it in the first place still stands, though." Observed Vriska. "Does he really see something special in us? And why just us? Obviously we're not the only people capable of using Personas. The seniors were the first to go through all that."

"Whatever the cause or reason is, I think we can all agree that Gamzee's the one behind this." Dirk said. "Him being there for Dave, him possibly starting a rumor, and of course him forcing the exchanges to put the code in, are all too incriminating."

"So all we've gotta do is stop him!" Nepeta exclaimed excitedly. "He shouldn't get away after putting us through that, after all."

"I agree!" Vriska said. "Don't get me wrong, it was nice that we were able to figure some of this out, but really, it won't matter once we nab Gamzee, right?"

"It's better than running around the computer world blindly." Rose muttered. "No offense, Terezi."

"Eh, none taken."

John laughed a bit, oblivious to all the tension that Rose was purposely giving off.

"John, why are you laughing at a blind girl?" Terezi questioned. "That's horribly offensive. You disgust me."

John immediately hushed himself up, confused. Terezi merely cackled, taking delight in messing with John. It was even funnier when it was her best friend's boyfriend. She knew plenty about how to mess with him.

"Anyway. Back to the original question, before we became an impromptu investigation team." Dave announced. "So, you two in?"

"Does it even need to be asked?" Nepeta giggled. "Of course we are! Right, Equius?"

Equius nodded and smiled, showing off his several broken teeth.

"Cool, then. We'll get your numbers from Vriska. Keep in touch, and we'll let you know if we're ever going in to the computer. You'll probably know before us, though."

"Should we tell the others in our dorm, Vriskers?" Nepeta asked.

"No." Vriska objected. "We do that, pretty soon everyone and their grandmas are jumping in to the computer world out of curiosity. As much as I hate it, we need to let Gamzee get them one at a time, or in little groups like this. We can't catch him in the act, anyway."

"It's not like you'll be able to prevent people from freaking out about all of you going into comas." John pointed out. "Someone's bound to find out eventually."

"Yeah, you're right." Vriska admitted. "We can pass that off as contagious virus or something that knocks people out for a few hours, at least for now. The more people involved in this at our dorm, the less trouble we'll have in keeping it secret. I know the others, they'd join us if they knew what Gamzee was doing."

"Alright, then. We'll keep it a secret then." John noted.

"We done here, then?" Dave asked.

"I suppose." Rose said. "I hadn't expected Nepeta and Equius to be informed already. I had assumed that was what we were going to do today. Still, we were able to shed light on a few more aspects on this mystery. Hypothetical light, but light nonetheless."

"Then we're out." Vriska announced, standing up with John. "Nep, Equius, I guess you're taking Rezi back to the dorm? Me and John are gonna go out and check some place out."

"We are?" John asked, then nodded. "Yeah, we are."

"Will do!" Nepeta stated. "You guys have fun!"

"Coffee?" Vriska asked John as they exited the dorm.

Within a few minutes, the dorm was cleared out. The seniors, as usual, decided to go out and eat and hang around town. Despite the apparent romantic fluctuations among the group, with Dirk apparently leaving Jane for Jake, they seemed extremely close.

Dave nodded to Rose as she entered the lounge via the stairs. "Nice job keeping cool with Vriska in here."

"I will admit, I struggled to a degree." Rose sighed. "It's enough to see him happy, yes. But Vriska just strikes me as… off."

"Probably cause she's going out with the dude you fell for." Dave stated plainly. "Your view's skewed. Vris is cool."

"And impulsive. And arrogant. And a little too flirty."

"Easy there, Ice Queen. You're just proving my point."

Rose sighed, rubbing her forehead. "Yes, I know."

"Why not just go find some other dude? Or chick, whatever your case is after this Egbert situation. He's a doofus anyway."

"Yes, he is." Rose agreed, sighing happily.

"Dammit, please don't tell me you're into the dweeby type. That's so unlike you." Dave muttered.

"Dave, please. You're my brother, I'd expect you to know me better. I don't believe in 'types', I just believe in individuals."

"Yeah, yeah. You picked one dweeby individual."

"Isn't he your best friend?" Rose asked.

"Duh, that's why I can talk about him like that. When it comes down to it, John's a giddy, dweeby idiot. But he's my bud, so it's all cool."

Rose shook her head and smiled. "I suppose. I'm glad all of you were there today, I suppose."

"Yeah, I'd hate to see you alone in a room with Vriska. I'd hate it even more to be the dude to clean up the blood."

"I wouldn't go for lacerations, Dave." Rose said. "Maybe mess with her mind until she has a hemorrhage."

"You sound really fucking evil sometimes. You know that, right?"

"I do." Rose said, snickering. It was the first time Dave had heard her make any noise resembling a laugh in a long while. "Thank you, Dave. Sometimes a round of friendly sibling banter is just what I need to restore the equilibrium in my brain."

"Well, you're using the big words still, so I guess you're not too un-equilibrium'd."

Rose smiled. "Once again, thank you. I think I'll go knit something, maybe. It does well to get my mind off things."

"Ooooh, make me a katana cozy." Dave pleaded.

With a shake of her head, Rose ascended the stairs back to her room. As soon as she was out of sight, Dave heard the call of a new social link in his head.

"I am thou.

Thou art I.

The bonds that you forge will become your strength.

You shall receive a blessing when creating Personas of the Priestess Arcana."

Dave recognized the card of the High Priestess, which he had seen in use by Rose.

"Took long enough." Dave muttered to himself. He came to the conclusion that the bonds that counted towards his Persona power only counted if they were established after his power was gained.

Whatever the case was, Dave was sure that Igor would explain it later (cryptically as possible, of course). With a stretch, Dave placed his phone aside and prepared to take his afternoon nap.


	19. Chapter 19 - The September Pool Bash

Dave was woken up that Saturday not by his 10 AM alarm, but by a knock on his door.

"Dave!" John called. "Hey, get up!"

Groggily sliding off his bed into the floor, Dave fixed his shades and sluggishly made his way to his door. "What?" he asked as he swung his door open.

"Hey, Vriska invited us all to the school's aquatic center. We've all been pretty worn out from this computer business and stuff. Figured you'd wanna come." John offered.

"The 'pool', you mean?" Dave asked.

"No, I mean 'aquatics center'. It's not just one pool. It's got a lazy river and an Olympic-style pool too."

"So, two pools and circular pool. Dude, you know how I am in the morning. Don't wake me up just to invite me somewhere where you get to see Vriska in a bikini."

"Jade's going too, by the way."

After a pause, Dave sighed. "I'll be ready in a sec." he muttered before slamming his door.

Though it was a rather tight fit, everyone from the dorm was able to fit inside the senior's van for the short drive to the aquatics center on the other side of campus. The girls wore shirts on the way, thus concealing the mystifying qualities that the guys were no doubt curious of.

John was the first to hop out, slinging a towel over his shoulder and heading past the opened gate. The others followed suit and caught eye of Vriska, Terezi, and Nepeta.

Vriska was quite a sight to look at in a two-piece and it surely was more than enough to completely entrance John, but the others paused to look at Nepeta.

"She…" Jade muttered, blinking. "But… She's so tiny! How are they so large in comparison?"

Rose blushed. "I… suppose we never noticed. She usually wears clothing that is a bit too large, after all."

Nepeta waved joyfully, oblivious to the surprise over her size. Terezi turned around and waved in the general direction of the group. She was smaller than Vriska and Nepeta, falling around the average side.

"Took you guys long enough. We invited the others from our dorm here but only a few showed up." Vriska mentioned, tilting her head to the pool. John was able to recognize Aradia and Feferi, already in the main pool. Splashing and grunts of exertion were heard from the Olympic-style pool; Equius had found his happy place.

Jade blushed as she saw Aradia and Feferi, who out-sized the others even further (especially in Aradia's case). She didn't even think herself to be the type to develop breast envy, but there she was, trying not to ogle.

"Well, how could we say no?" John asked, grinning as he tossed away his shirt. Dave shook his head; John practically lacked muscles, and would probably fly away if the wind blew too hard. Still, Vriska giggled at the sight and nodded to the pool.

"Well… Guess I better take this off." Jade muttered, looking down at her shirt.

"YES. YES YOU'D BETTER." Dave screamed internally in his mind. Externally he merely nodded.

Slightly blushing, Jade worked her shirt up, tossing it aside onto a nearby chair. Under her shirt she wore a black-and-white bikini top, with a skirt-bikini bottom. It wasn't revealing, per se, but it was enough to make Dave go red in the face.

Jane and Roxy likewise ditched their shirts, revealing themselves to be on the bigger side as well. It was a good day to be Dave and John, yet a dangerous day to not be single.

As they were distracted, John and Dave were pushed into the pool by Vriska and Jade, respectively. The rest, except for Nepeta and Rose, followed suit and hopped in as well. Nepeta, on the other hand, walked to the shallow end of the pool and carefully descended the ladder into the more shallow part of the pool.

"What's her deal?" Dave asked as he came up for air and rubbed some of the water off his shades.

"Can't swim." Vriska replied. "She'll stick around the shallow part though, so it's okay."

Nepeta waded forward until she was a little less than shoulder-deep; since she was rather short, this wasn't very far. Still, Jane and Roxy waded over to keep her company; they seemed more comfortable with relaxing in the water than swimming around anyway.

Rose sat on her chair, watching the others from beneath the shade of an umbrella.

"Rose? Aren't you coming in?" Jade asked.

Rose shrugged. "Perhaps later."

"But the water feels so nice! Come on, take your shirt off, hop in!" Jade pleaded.

Rose blushed a little, shaking her head. "Maybe later, Jade. For now, I'm fine right here."

"Suit yourself, I guess." Jade conceded, diving underwater.

After about 2 hours in the pool, Dave decided to get out for a spell and rest. Rose had indeed finally got into the pool, but she kept her black shirt on.

Feferi got out after Dave, heading over to the lifeguard tower and speaking to the boy sitting on top of it. "Eridan, isn't your shift over yet?" she asked.

The lifeguard, apparently named Eridan, shook his head. "Not yet, Fef. Not for another hour."

"I wish you could take off for a bit. You need to have some fun with your friends too."

Eridan raised an eyebrow. "I still don't really care much for the rabble you call your friends, Fef."

"They're not rabble, Eridan. If you'd hang out with them more often, you'd know that." Feferi replied, placing her hands on her hips. "Don't be so mean."

"I'm not being mean." Eridan protested. "I'm just keeping an eye out for you. That's all."

"Yes, I know. That's all it ever is." Feferi muttered, sighing. Eridan opened his mouth to retort, but discovered his common sense just in time and silenced himself. With an audible groan, Feferi turned away and walked back to her chair.

Dave turned his head as she walked back. "Tough shit, huh?" he asked.

Feferi looked up. "Huh? Oh, yeah. He means well, but he can be a bit a jerk sometimes. You're Dave, right? We didn't really talk today, but you're the one who's been hanging out with Vriska and Terezi, yeah?"

"Yeah, that's me. Dave Strider. Maestro of all that is ill and droppable." Dave replied, nodding in greeting.

"Feferi Peixes." She replied, smiling. "Sorry, you're really not seeing us at our best right now."

"Overbearing boyfriend?" Dave asked.

"Who, Eridan? Oh glub, no!" Feferi responded, sounding almost insulted. "No, no, not Eridan. He's just… especially protective of me. Like I said, he means well."

"Ah. Well, never hurts to tell him to fuck off if he gets too much on your shit."

"Nah, he knows when to back off." Feferi clarified, wrapping her towel around herself to dry off. "Thanks for being concerned, though. If Vris can put up with you, you must not be so bad."

"Uh… thanks?" Dave muttered, wondering if that was a compliment or not.

"Well… I'm feeling worn out, so I think I'm gonna head out. Tell everyone bye for me."

"Yeah, will do." Dave assured. "Take it easy."

Fef waved and took off. Once she was out of sight, Dave braced himself for the social link announcement which he had come to expect.

"I am thou.

Thou art I.

The bonds that you forge will become your strength.

You shall receive a blessing when creating Personas of the Empress Arcana."

The card that appeared in Dave's mind was an odd, almost abstract-looking image of a figure with a crown over its' head. The card was numbered III. He would have to ask Rose about what the card meant and what the picture on it was.

The card disappeared and Dave's focus returned. Jade hopped out of the pool and walked over to him, grabbing a towel as he approached.

"This was fun!" Jade exclaimed happily. "I don't come here often. This was a nice break."

"It's a good thing we came before fall really starts, I guess." Dave agreed.

"It's okay though. Winter will be here before you know it!"

Dave nodded with a smile. Winter was definitely one of the better parts of the year. "Yeah, and Christmas. Can't wait for a Christmas where I don't get a puppet."

Jade giggled. "Don't worry, I'll get you something nice. I promise. Plus, our birthdays are around that time too!"

"Oh shit, that's right." Dave said. "I forget sometimes that our birthdays are so close together."

"And I'm older!" Jade proclaimed, grinning.

"Yeah, by two days. Let's just call it even, Har."

"Awww, you're just jealous. Look at it this way; you can tell people you're seeing an older woman."

"True. The internet must know." Dave agreed.

"Does this mean I can be on your blog now?"

Dave put his hand to his chin, as to look like he was internally debating. "Hmmm…"

"Please?"

"Hmm…"

"Pleeeeeeeeease?"

Dave chuckled and let his hand down. "Yeah, of course you can. My blog is your blog."

"Woo!" Jade exclaimed excitedly. "Now I can be internet famous too!"

"You could have asked me to make you internet famous years ago." Dave said. "I could have done it easy."

"Nah, it's more fun this way. 'Sides, I'd prefer not to be a guest star in a Sweet Bro and Hella Jeff issue."

"Hey, don't hate. To be a guest star in my epic tale is an honor. I should draw you in just to spite you now."

"You meanie." Jade replied, sticking her tongue out. Dave rolled his eyes and she kissed his cheek. "Picture for the blog, then?"

"Yeah." Dave agreed, pulling his phone from his backpack that had been kept away from the pool to avoid anything inside getting wet. Jade sat next to him and smiled as he snapped a quick picture.

"Woo!" Jade said, smiling. "Show me when it's up, alright?"

"Will do." Dave replied, typing up an entry as they spoke. "You think they're ready to go?"

"Probably not. Aradia found a beach ball, they'll probably be in there for a while. I'm kinda tired though."

"Feel like walking back?"

"I guess so." Jade said, nodding. "I could really use a scooter."

Dave looked over to the pool. "Egbert, Rose! See you back at the dorm."

John turned to wave goodbye, but was smacked in the face by the beach ball. Rose waved to the two of them from the shallow side along with Nepeta.

Once all their things were gathered, Dave and Jade began the walk to the dorm to rest for the evening.

That night, Eridan returned to the dorm before the rest of the exchange students. The house was silent; he knew that at least Karkat was home, but he normally kept to himself now that his best friend was gone and Terezi started hanging out with the others. It was quiet, as was normal, but something put Eridan on age.

With a sigh, Eridan ascended the stairs to the third floor and went to the third door on the left. After taking a deep breath, he tapped his knuckles on the door.

"Fef? It's Eridan… I wanted to apologize."

He heard no response.

"Fef? You there?"

Once again, he heard no response. This was odd, as Feferi normally at least told him she wanted to be alone. Either she was somewhere else; which he doubted; or she was asleep.

Sleeping at 8 PM? Probably not. The odd feeling that Eridan had nagged at him even worse now, so he slowly turned the knob of the door and peeked into the room.

Feferi laid on the ground as if she had fallen out of her computer desk's chair. Her computer was off, and the lights in the room were off as well.

"Fef!" Eridan shouted, running over and tapping her. She was breathing, but not responding. It was the same thing he remembered Vriska talking about; falling into a coma.

What did Vriska know?

Feferi showed no signs of being attacked, no signs of illness. It looked like she had simply fallen out of her chair and passed out.

Eridan tried to wake her again, and after several unsuccessful attempts, Eridan pulled out his phone and dialed Vriska.

"Vris, we need to talk."


	20. Chapter 20 - Deep Diving

Dave awoke the next morning at 7 AM, which was way too early for a Sunday in his mind. Nothing had woken him up; not John banging at his door, not an incorrectly set alarm clock, not even birds chirping outside his window. Dave simply sat up, removed his shades, and rubbed his eyes while pondering whether or not he should go to sleep.

A few minutes later his phone ringed with the sound of a record scratch, indicating a text message. Dave grabbed his phone and checked it to see a text from John.

"downstairs asap!"

Maybe he had some kind of weird sleep premonition that woke him up before the text. Regardless, he was awake, and something was going on. Had Gamzee gotten someone else so early?

Dave descended the stairs and found his suspicions confirmed by the sight of Vriska standing in the middle of the lounge with her laptop under he arm. What was unusual, however, was the fact that Eridan was standing behind her.

"What's up, Ampora?" Dave asked, strolling to his seat next to a sleepy Jade.

Vriska shook her head. "Long story short, he figured us out."

"What?" Dave exclaimed, his demeanor changing from that of a calm façade to that of alarm. Hadn't they been rather secretive with what they had been doing?

"It wasn't hard, really." Eridan argued, rather pompously. "People in our dormitory were falling into comas. First with Vriska, then Terezi, then Equius and Nepeta. Each time they woke up in at least a day. "Just a long nap" or "Some kinda virus", they say. And once they're back on their feet, they start coming here to your dorm. Just to hang out. I was able to piece together a few things, and it was obvious that you all had something to do with it."

Dave hung his head. So much for their super-covert rescues, huh?

"Anyway, Fef's in trouble. Vriska told me everything about the world in the computer." Eridan continued.

"You believe all of that?" Rose asked.

"I'm willing to believe it if I can go in and see it with my own eyes. I want to help Fef. I want to go in with you."

Dave stood up. "You do realize what happens if you do, right? You'll go straight into a coma like Fef did. We'll have to save you on top of saving Feferi."

"That's a risk I'm willing to take." Eridan proclaimed. "Vriska told me everything. You're going to save Fef and knowing her, she'll want to take part in this foolish crusade of yours as well. I'm not letting her unless I'm there so I know she'll be safe. I'm going in."

Rose crossed her arms. "We'll have to split up."

"Split up?" Dave asked. "Why not just do them one at a time?"

"Truth be told, some of us could use the practice, Dave." Rose answered. "I know it's a little odd to say that about such an important task, but... A separate rescue mission would give the others experience in battle while we're off finding Feferi."

"Are you totally sure?" Dave asked.

"Gamzee may threaten to anyone in at any time. We've seen in Equius and Nepeta's cases that two people can be put in at once. We should be prepared to split up like this should the unlikely arise."

"Yeah, I guess." Dave muttered, still surprised to hear such from Rose. "Alright Eridan, you're in. It'll be us rescuing Feferi though."

Eridan nodded. "I know. Don't screw that up."

Full attendance was achieved in preparation for the double-rescue mission. Eridan was the first to enter the code, and subsequently fainted.

"I suppose they've both had the dream already. Perhaps we should've asked?" Rose commented.

"We'll find out soon enough." Dirk responded, looking to Dave who gave a nod.

Upon entering Asphodel, the group found that the mysterious arcade had once again expanded in size, now housing two more doors. Feferi's door was labeled 'Aquarium of Separation', whilst Eridan's was labeled 'Palace of Authority'. Also of note was the fact that Vriska, Terezi, Nepeta and Equius were all grey-skinned with horns, as seemed to be the normfor the exchange students.

Dave approached Feferi's door and looked back at the group. "Jade, Jane, Equius, Nepeta, and Terezi, come with me to get Feferi. Rose, you take John, Vriska, Dirk, Jake and Roxy to go grab Eridan."

Rose nodded. Dave figured that he might as well send John and Vriska with her; she was going to have to get used to them sooner or later. Making them work together might be a good idea.

Once everyone was properly divided into even teams, Dave led his team through Feferi's door while Rose's team stepped through Eridan's door.

Dave's vision came into focus after the blinding light that accompanied entering the door. When he was able to look around, he saw something quite odd; they were underwater.

He didn't feel like he was swimming at all; in fact, he felt completely normal, as if he were standing on completely dry ground. It was completely apparent that they were underwater in a sense, however. The surface of the water could be seen above, and fish swam around them in schools. It was a truly beautiful scene, and the fantasy of it all was only broken by the aquarium tank wall that was seen to the side of them.

"So… we're inside an aquarium tank." Dave guessed, checking around.

"It would appear so." Equius agreed, tapping on the glass. "It's very strong. And I cannot see out of it. Only a monotone shade of blue."

Jade gasped as a cuttlefish swam by, changing colors in a vibrant spectrum. "It's too bad this place is full of shadows. At least, it should be full of them. Where are they?"

"I guess we'll find out once we go further in." Dave guessed, turning away from the aquarium glass.

Rose was surprised by the appearance of the palace that reflected Eridan's inner thoughts; it appeared as a once-grand castle, decorated with gold and beautiful tapestries (including vivid, painted portraits of Eridan in garb befitting an Emperor). However, the castle looked as if it had just been the recipient of an attack, or as if it had been abandoned for a very long time. Tapestries hung crooked on the wall, some of them bearing rather offensive graffiti messages on their faces. The pillars that had once decorated the ends of staircases were shattered and laying in pieces.

"I wonder what happened to this place." John asked, taking a step forward. The castle was eerily silent, and John's step cracked a piece of already-broken glass, sending a sound echoing throughout the halls of the palace.

"Nothing happened to it, technically." Rose answered. "This is its' original state, as created by Eridan's mind. We will find out more as we progress and find Eridan, I'm certain."

Vris took a step forward as well, keeping clear of the debris. "There's got to be shadows waiting in ambush here."

"Yeah." Dirk agreed, drawing his blade and summoning Ozymandias. "Rose, you taking the lead?"

Rose nodded, taking hold of her blade-needles and summoning Iris.

The peace and serenity of the aquarium world soon faded when a dolphin-shaped shadow broke free of swimming with other fish and dove towards the group, colliding with Dave.

Nepeta gasped and tightened her fists, summoning two deadly-looking claws. Equius did the same, but no weapon came into being. Jade immediately summoned Hypnos and helped Dave to his feet, getting ready for the swarm of dolphin-shadows.

Jane brought Hera into view, and Dave looked at it since he had never seen Jane's Persona before. Hera wore a gown that seemed to be textured like the night sky, with stars being visible upon it. She looked almost ethereal, and her flowing hair glowed softly with a purple light. Her skin was a pale shade of blue. The Persona looked especially beautiful in the serene aquarium setting.

Dave leapt forward and slashed at one of the shadows, which swam away and easily avoided his attack. Left open, he barely avoided another swooping shadow. With their ability to swim while the Persona-users were confined to the ground, the dolphin-shadows held the advantage.

Jade knelt and took aim with her rifle, firing off bursts while Hypnos threw blocks of ice, doing significant damage to a single member of the swarm.

Seeing that Dave's approach of pure offense was of no use, Equius stood his ground as a dolphin-shadow swooped at him. The dolphin collided with him, but he did not recoil; instead he embraced the shadow in a bear-hug. Once the shadow was restrained enough, Equius brought his grip to the shadow's tail and slammed it on the ground, stunning it long enough for Equius to finish it off with a curb-stomp.

Nepeta summoned her Persona; an action that was imparted to her by her subconscious; and stood ready like Equius. As the dolphin shadows attempted to ram her, Nepeta and Eros dodged out of the way and struck the shadows when they drew close.

Seeing their success, Dave adopted the same technique and stood defensively, slicing at any shadows that drew near. Terezi drew her cane-sword and was able to do the same, with frightening accuracy for a blind girl.

Their main method of attack useless and a majority of their force killed, the few remaining shadows fled the site of the battle, leaving the Persona users to revel in their victory.

Dave hummed a victory tune as he loosened his grip on his katana. "Alright, let's go save Fef before Eridan has an aneurysm."

Jade rolled her eyes. "He's just being protective, that's all. Too protective, maybe, but still."

"Eridan's a little weird." Nepeta said as she walked alongside the others. "He treats a lot of us like we're beneath him. But I think he'd be lonely without someone to treat like that."

"He puts Feferi on a pedestal, however." Equius added. "He grew apart from us very early on after we arrived here, but always stayed close to her."

"What was it like to arrive here with no memory?" Jane asked, immediately putting darkened expressions on the faces of the exchange students.

Nepeta answered after a long silence. "We don't talk about it much. The first thing any of us remember is waking up under a bridge. We knew our names, and we knew about each other, but that was about it."

"We were brought to immigration and had to go through the process of becoming citizens despite the fact that we had no recollection of where we came from." Equius continued. "Soon after we were naturalized, we received a letter from a mysterious benefactor that informed us that we had each received a completely-paid off tuition to Sassacre Academy. To this day, we do not know who it was."

"We tried asking about it, but we couldn't trace who sent the letter." Terezi answered. "So we just decided to go with the letter and attend school. We got the hang of it pretty soon and got to know each other and what we were good at. We really only had each other from the beginning, so… being friends with you guys is actually a pretty big deal for some of us."

"I can't imagine having to go through all that." Jade sighed, frowning. "I'm sorry, guys. If I would have known what you had to deal with, I would have tried to make friends sooner."

"I doubt you would have made much progress. We were very reliant on each other and quite isolated from others. It took a catastrophe such as this computer world threat to bring us to interact with others." Equius clarified.

"That's a shame. But at least it happened at all!" Jane piped up, using her oversized fork-weapon as a sort of walking stick.

Nepeta nodded. "I think so too!"

Dave was about to comment as well when they reached a reef, which had a small opening through the center. Slight, muffled sobs could be heard from within. "This must be the place." Dave stated, heading inside.

The silence in the palace was shattered (literally) by a shadow breaking through a glass door. The shadow came into view, and the kids were rather shocked at the appearance; the shadow seemed to be two headless bodies dressed as a man and a woman, locked in a dance and holding a deadly-looking rapier in its' hands. Above the two bodies floated a spinning heart which bore the signature mask of the shadows.

Several more of the shadows danced into view. Ozymandias flew in front of the group as they all called upon their Personas. With a flash of magical energy, Ozymandias raised the defense of the entire party in preparation for the battle.

Their odd movements made the shadows quite difficult to predict, but an attack had to be made, and Roxy led the charge with a shot from her rifle.

Odysseus lunged forward with his fishing spear, but was impeded by a rapier raised to block the strike. Despite their flimsy appearances, the rapiers that were held by the shadows were quite strong.

"I wouldn't try a melee approach in this case." Rose suggested, summoning bolts of lightning to hurl at the shadows. Damage was minimal, but it was still damage done.

John went next, sending a gust of wind tearing through the palace. Wind was the right choice, and the shadows fell to the floor.

"Woo! Up and at 'em!" Vriska shouted as she rushed forward. John and Roxy followed to get in close range to do as much damage as possible, and Rose, Jake, and Dirk followed immediately after.

One massive beatdown later, the shadows were no more.

"Alright! Nice and easy." Vriska mused, hopping through the broken glass door. "Looks like a big door. Eridan's probably in there."

"Typical." Rose commented as she saw the door. "It's as if it's an invitation for us to waltz in and interrupt the shadow's berating."

"Adds more support to your cultivating theory, I guess." Dirk guessed. "Let's go."

Dave led the group into the grotto, spotting Feferi sitting against the rock. As expected, Feferi was grey skinned and had two horns, which pointed outwards from each other.

"Hey, Fef. We're here to get you out." Dave announced.

Feferi looked up, surprised and frightened. "But… She…"

"I think I can speak for myself." Called a voice. Shadow Feferi descended from the opening in the ceiling of the grotto, floating above the ground in front of the group. She seemed to be bound by the rules of water like the fish and dolphin shadows.

"And here's the bitch of the hour." Dave muttered.

"Bitch? Ha! In all the wrong ways." Shadow Fef retorted. "I can tell you all about her. Sweet, caring Feferi. On everyone's side, to the point where she gets walked all over!"

Feferi shuddered, curling up as if trying to block out her shadow's words.

"But her bitchy side, oh yes. It slips out every once in a while. The occasional out-of-place insult, backhanded compliments, that stuff."

Blinking, Feferi shook her head. "I try to stop… I don't really mean it."

"She's fed up with everyone's bullshit. She wants to forge her own way of thinking where she doesn't have to freak out about what other people think. Especially that idiot, Eridan."

Dave crossed his arms. There was no point in suggesting an attack to stop the shadow. For all they knew, it might not even be possible to do so until the shadow was officially denied by its original self.

"Controlling. Overbearing. Egotistical Eridan…"

"She never says any of those things, but you know she thinks it." Shadow Eridan said, walking around the trashed throne room in a fancy, dignified manner. The real Eridan grumbled from within a cage on the other side of the room; it was knocked over, but still shut tight.

"You want to 'protect' her? Foolish excuses. You fantasize of being her knight in shining armor. You love her more than she could know, but you've already gone and screwed up any chance you had. So you just try to be as controlling as you can over her. You're the only one that should be around her. No one else deserves someone as exquisite, as beautiful, as unique as Feferi…"

"I gave up a long time ago!" Retorted the real Eridan. "I want to protect her. The world's a harsh place…"

"And you're a harsh taskmaster!" Shadow Eridan continued, throwing his hand up in the air for dramatic emphasis. "You cannot deny all that I've said. After all…"

"I am you." Shadow Feferi concluded, cackling.

Feferi shook her head defiantly. "No! No, you're not! I don't think of anyone like that, especially not Eridan! He's just trying to look out for me. You'd know that, if you really were me!"

"Alright, show-time." Dave said quietly, cracking his neck and getting ready for the inevitable transformation and subsequent confrontation.

Equius cracked his knuckles as Shadow Feferi cackled louder and became engulfed in the reddish-black smoke. A surge of energy erupted forth as her transformation progressed, pushing those around her back.

Dave regained his foothold and looked up at Shadow Feferi, who now had the appearance of a woman run ragged, standing nearly to the ceiling of the grotto. She held a double-sided fork, akin to the type used to tend to fireplaces. She resembled Feferi, save for the fact that she looked much older and worn-out. She wore a long, ragged dress that was adorned with studded metal belts and chains that bound her to the ground.

"I am a shadow, the true self!" she shouted in a voice that held strength that her physical appearance did not. "Selflessness erodes the self until all that is left is an empty shell. It's time I began fending for myself! Starting with you…"

"Bring it on!" Dave shouted, calling upon his newly established Priestess Arcana. "Alliat!"

Dave's Persona took on the form of a floating stone obelisk, shaped like a rectangle with pointed ends instead of flat ones, and adorned with glowing red tracings.

"Whoa. Cool." Dave muttered, grinning.

The others brought their Personas forth as well. Terezi immediately tried to scan Shadow Feferi. "It's like last time. Too strong for me to get a reading!"

"That's fine. We'll take care of this the old fashioned way!" Jade proclaimed, reloading her gun.

"Of course!" Equius agreed, approaching Shadow Feferi alongside Heracles.

Shadow Feferi was the first to act, lifting her fork and twirling it. The fork took on a sickly, purple glow. Equius and Heracles both brought their arms up to defend themselves, but Shadow Feferi still struck Heracles.

The strike didn't seem to do much damage, but Heracles and Equius both took on the same purple glow that had once been on Shadow Feferi's fork.

"She poisoned them!" Terezi shouted. "Jade, you can do something about that, can't you?"

"I think so!" Jade replied, concentrating to cast the Amrita spell.

"Hold it!" Shadow Feferi shouted, twirling her fork once again. The fork took on a green glow this time, and since Jade wasn't within melee range, Shadow Feferi simply swung her fork and let loose a green shockwave that struck Jade's Persona, causing it to fade away and making Jade glow green.

"She sealed away Jade's Persona!" Terezi elaborated. "Don't let her hit you with that fork!"

Equius, weighed down by the poison, still kept up his advance and struck Shadow Feferi alongside Heracles. Angrily, Shadow Feferi tugged at the chain that bound her left arm, extending it out of the ground. Equius' blows were stopped by the chain, while Heracles was able to land a blow.

"Away with you!" Shadow Feferi shouted, sending another shockwave, this time an orange colored one that homed in on Jane.

Jane gasped and ducked, smirking as the shockwave passed over her head. In her moment of confidence, she failed to notice the shockwave making a U-turn in mid-air (or mid-water, as it were) and coming back to strike her.

"Confusion! Watch out for Jane, she's not herself right now!" Terezi exclaimed.

True to Terezi's words, Jane moved erratically and swung her large fork at Nepeta, who barely stepped out of the way in time.

"This is going to hell fast." Dave muttered, taking his turn to leap at Shadow Feferi alongside Alliat. Dave's blade was stopped by Shadow Fef's chain, but a lightning strike from Alliat hit home and slightly damaged Shadow Feferi.

Angered, Shadow Feferi roared and sent Dave and Equius away with an energy shockwave, causing both of them to glow a dull blue.

"Exhaustion." Terezi muttered. "Try not to exert yourself!"

"What the fuck are we supposed to do, then?" Dave angrily shouted, struggling to get to his feet. "She keeps messing with us like this."

"Well, maybe two can play at this game!" Nepeta said confidently, approaching Shadow Feferi alongside Eros.

"Very well! You will be next!" Shadow Fef threatened, swinging her fork and unleashing a silencing shockwave.

Nepeta braced herself, and Eros flew in front of her. Instead of taking the brunt of the attack, the shockwave simply bounced away and flew right at Shadow Feferi.

Shadow Feferi gasped and was hit by the shockwave, turning the same color of green as Jade.

"That should keep her from doing the fork thing for a little while!" Nepeta exclaimed proudly.

"How did you do that?" Dave asked, looking at her.

"I don't really know. It's just like any Purrsona thing. I just know it happens." Nepeta answered.

Terezi nodded. "Her Persona is immune to status effects like that! Let Nepeta take the lead!"

"Be my guest!" Dave agreed, still feeling the effects of exhaustion as he tried to keep himself on his feet.

With a nod, Nepeta sprung forward, leaping into the air. Eros flew under her and served as a platform that Nepeta landed on. After a moment of preparation, Nepeta sprung off of Eros and launched herself at Shadow Feferi's face, latching herself on with one of her claws and ferociously slashing with the other.

Equius brought himself to his feet despite the exhaustion effect and made his way to the chain holding Shadow Feferi's left arm. With Heracles' help and some muscle straining, Equius took hold of the chain and pulled it down to the ground, bringing Shadow Feferi's arm with it.

Shadow Feferi tried to raise her arm from Equius' grasp, but was entirely too distracted by Nepeta's onslaught to do so. Instead she attempted to swing her fork, but was unable to get Nepeta without nearly slashing herself in turn.

Dave fought the exhaustion and sent more bolts of lightning via Alliat, adding to the barrage.

Shadow Feferi screamed and shouted in protest, her shrieks lowering in volume until finally a harsh strike from Nepeta silenced her for good. Nepeta leaped off and stuck the landing as Shadow Feferi dissipated into smoke.

"You don't know anything about how I feel! You're not me!" Eridan shouted as his shadow, gripping the bars of the cage.

Shadow Eridan shook his head with a grin as the smoke began to gather around his feet.

"Everyone be ready!" Rose warned as she readied herself and her Persona. The others did the same, and Dirk had Ozymandias take a defensive position in front of the team.

The smoke engulfed Shadow Eridan and grew larger as he transformed, and when the smoke cleared, his true form came into view.

Shadow Eridan stood at approximately eight feet, draped in elaborate, kingly furs. On his head rested a crown resembling the one worn by the Statue of Liberty, and in his hand he held a golden trident. His face remained largely the same, but his hair was significantly longer.

"I am a Shadow, the true self!" he shouted. "The weaker the man, the stronger his insistence that his presence be acknowledged! Let us see how far you will go to stop me!"

"Yes, let's." Rose agreed.

Dirk started the fight by once again reinforcing the group's defense, then nodding to Jake. Jake nodded in return and performed a similar spell, strengthening the group's offense.

Shadow Eridan began by hurling a ball of fire at the group. The blast, being Dirk's weakness, threw Dirk away and harmed the others.

Vriska recovered and lobbed a few of her dice, erupting into an electrical explosion. Though not his weakness, Shadow Eridan backed away a little from the attack.

"I wish we had Terezi with us." Jake muttered.

"No, she wouldn't be able to assist us right now anyway." Rose interjected. "Against strong shadows such as this, her powers are no longer usable."

"Bugger." Jake said. "Well, we'll have to make do on our own. Tally ho!" he shouted, rushing forward with Odysseus.

Shadow Eridan was struck by Jake's attack and was pushed back, farther than when Vriska attacked him.

"Physical attacks seem to be the way to go, then." Rose deduced. "Don't waste your time with magic!"

With a nod, John rushed forward with his hammer and swung down on Shadow Eridan's foot, doing further damage but not knocking him any farther away.

Once recovered, Shadow Eridan angrily produced another fireball and hurled it at the group, this time doing far greater damage to the team but missing Dirk.

Rose groaned, thankful that Dirk had previously reinforced their defenses. "That was much more forceful than the last…"

"Anger is an efficient power source, you know!" Shadow Eridan taunted. "I would avoid trying to piss me off."

"Is he saying his power increases as he's hurt?" Vriska guessed. "Well, shit."

"We will just have to prepare ourselves before he attacks again." Rose assumed. "If what he says is true, we will need to defeat him quickly. I doubt we can stand more powerful attacks each time."

"You got it!" John answered, advancing forward with Jake. Together the two rushed Shadow Eridan, their Personas flying forward like battering rams.

Shadow Eridan sliced Perseus out of the air, knocking John away in the process, but was unable to stop Odysseus and Jake's guns, being knocked down as well.

"Quickly, attack!" Rose shouted, rushing forward despite the fact that melee combat was not her forte.

Roxy nodded and hopped upon a piece of rubble for a better place to fire from without harming any of the others, while Dirk and Vriska rushed forward with the others.

Shadow Eridan attempted to get up as the Persona-users hacked away at him, but their constant assault showed that he wouldn't be able to just simply get up. With a roar, Shadow Eridan began charging a fireball from the ground.

"Up, get up!" Dirk told the others as he got up and got ready to defend himself. The others followed suit, raising their guards up.

"Take this!" Shadow Eridan shouted, causing the fireball to erupt in his hands. The explosion encompassed most of the room, hitting everyone in the room with great force and heat. Despite his defensive stance, Dirk collapsed in the face of the fire, as did John and Jake.

Rose fell to her knees after the explosion subsided, feeling severely weakened. She wished Dave had left Jade or Jane, or anyone specialized in healing.

Roxy rose to her feet and used a healing spell to slightly cure herself, Rose, and Vriska. The boys remained unconscious.

Shadow Eridan struggled to his feet, grinning despite the violet blood running down his face. "Told you… not to piss me off. Now it's over!"

In alarm, Vriska tossed her dice. "Luck, don't fail me now!"

The dice began to glow as they flew towards Shadow Eridan, and erupted into a bright, purple explosion as they made contact with him. Though it didn't finish him outright, it did send him to his knees and interrupted his next attack.

Not wanting to ask questions then shoot later, Roxy knelt and took aim, firing her assault rifle and riddling Shadow Eridan full of holes. With a surprised look on his face, Shadow Eridan fell backwards and faded into smoke, leaving his original form behind.

Feferi rose as her Shadow returned to normal. "Is… is it all over?"

"It will be when you accept your shadow self as a part of who you are." Equius answered. "We will explain in due time."

Though obviously confused, Feferi nodded and looked at her shadow. "I… I guess I've been lying to myself. It's getting exhausting, looking after everyone's well-being. I really don't mind it, but… maybe I've been going too far out of my own way and not looking out for myself. I… just have to find a balance, that's all. I promise I'll strive towards that. Alright, me?"

Shadow Feferi's blank expression gave way to a smile and a nod before she faded away into a Persona; Feferi's Persona appeared as a middle-aged woman draped in plain linens, holding a fire iron. Her skin was a pale purple, and her hair was a bright, shimmering gold.

"Hestia." Feferi muttered as her Persona faded away, giving way to the tarot card of the Empress.

Eridan's cage faded as his shadow was defeated, and he rose to walk over to it.

"This is what we were talking about earlier." Vriska clarified. "A test, I guess. You have to accept your shortcomings or else it'll just attack again."

"Accept what he said? Never!" Eridan protested.

Vriska sneered and slapped Eridan in the face. "Don't be an idiot! Everything he said was absolutely and completely true. Trust us, we know. This happened to us too. You want to protect Feferi? Then acknowledge what he said as truth. Use it to better yourself. Quit being a little bitch and running away."

Eridan rubbed his sore cheek, his brow furrowed at Vriska.

Rose crossed her arms. "Never thought I'd say this… but I agree. Eridan, our shadows are witnesses to our deepest, darkest secrets. Everything yours said is true, even if you yourself don't believe it."

Eridan looked like he was at a loss. "I…"

Vriska raised her hand again, with a look on her face that said "Do it or else."

Sighing, Eridan turned to his shadow. "Umm… I'm not exactly sure how to start. Maybe you did have a point… Maybe I am taking my protection of Feferi a little too far. But… that doesn't change how I feel. I'm going to stay by her and keep watch. I will have to be more lenient or else she will resent me for it, but... I won't leave her side. You've got that? You are me, I suppose."

Shadow Eridan shrugged and faded away, a Persona taking his place. Eridan's Persona was the classical depiction of King Neptune; a white-bearded merman wearing a golden crown and carrying a trident.

"Poseidon." Eridan called out. Poseidon nodded and faded into a card; Rose recognized it as the card of the Emperor Arcana.

Eridan fell to his knees once his ordeal was over, while Dirk, John, and Jake came to and got to their feet. Vriska and Roxy got on each side of Eridan and helped him through the exit door, as the others followed right behind them.

Dave awoke soon after his team helped Feferi through her door. Eridan shot up a few seconds later, followed by Vriska, Terezi, and then everyone else.

"I need to go back and talk to her." Eridan announced, making his way to the door.

"Eridan, hang on!" Vriska called, helping Terezi up and holding her hand so she wouldn't have to make use of her cane to see. "Wait for us!"

John waved to Vriska, feeling a little left out.

"You're welcome!" Dave called out sarcastically as they left. "Wow, talk about hasty."

"He's just worried." Jade guessed. "It's rough, going through that. I wonder what his shadow was like."

"Nothing surprising." Rose answered. "I'll tell you about it later."

Vriska and Terezi tailed Eridan back to their dorm. As they approached, they saw Feferi step out from the front door, stopping as she saw Eridan.

"Fef…" Eridan started, stopping just short of her. "I went in with them. I went through the same thing you just did."

"You did? Gamzee got you too?" Feferi asked. "I have no clue what's going on…"

"Dammit, I knew it was him that got her." Vriska muttered.

"It's a lot to explain, Fef. I… need to apologize before we explain any of it, though."

"Apologize?"

"Yeah." Eridan said, looking down. "I… may have been a bit too adamant and protective of you, and… that's not right. I shouldn't be so overbearing and controlling when you're perfectly capable of taking care of yourself."

Vriska nodded. It was clear that despite his protests in the computer world, his shadow's words really got to him; perhaps progressively moreso now that he had time to think about it all.

Feferi shook her head. "I know you were just doing what you thought was necessary. I think we both went out of our way to help people we care about. Just… if you can ease off a bit… I won't mind you looking out for me."

"It's a deal." Eridan replied, nodding. "I promise."

"Good." Feferi agreed, hugging Eridan. Eridan blushed, saying nothing. "Can we talk about what happened, then? I saw Equius and Nepeta… but what do you, Vriska, and Terezi have to do with all this?"

"It's a lot to explain, trust me. You might want to take a seat." Vriska answered. "Long story short, Gamzee's gunning for us. We're all victims of some psychological computer game thing and we're all basically clueless save for a few things. And now you're a part of it too. So you're basically stuck helping us. Eridan too."

"Say no more, I'm in." Feferi stated. "Well… please say more, but I'm going to help. I want to stop Gamzee if he'll go after more of us. He's the reason why everyone went into comas, isn't he?"

Vriska nodded.

"I'm in too." Eridan added. "I can't let Fef go in there… without a little backup."

Feferi smiled at Eridan's comment. "Tell us everything, Vriska."

Vriska grinned. "I'll start from the beginning."


End file.
